Naruto: Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage
by Francis456
Summary: Full summary inside. Six-year-old Naruto accidentally kills someone in self-defence. From then on, he vows never to kill again, but can he keep this vow as he strives towards his goals? NaruSakuInoHina Rated for language and possible future lemons
1. Darkest day, Enter the antagonist

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 1 – Darkest day, Enter the antagonist**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

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"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

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**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

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**Summery** – On Naruto's sixth birthday, a year after he's kicked out of the orphanage, he's chased into an alley by an angry mob out for his blood and once he's cornered they attempt to beat him and Naruto; desperate to defend himself, lashes out and ends up killing one of the villagers causing the crowd to flee in terror. Shocked and traumatised by what he's done, Naruto vows never to kill again unless absolutely necessary after a talk with the Sandaime Hokage. As he grows up, he makes friends and wins over the trust of some of the younger generation who help him manage to cope with what he did. However, all is not well as hatred runs deep in the older generation, putting Naruto's friends in harm's way and one hateful woman seeks to bring about Naruto's destruction from behind the scenes and the evil Danzo also takes an interest in the boy as well as the threats of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. When Naruto becomes a ninja, his adventures start and he struggles to see just how long he can go on before being forced to break his vow never to kill as well as work towards his dream of becoming Hokage and prove to the people of Konohagakure no Sato that he is not the Kyuubi no Yoko, the feared Nine-Tailed Fox that almost destroyed the village the night of his birth and forges his own path as his father, the Yondaime Hokage's Legacy. Can he deal with the pressure of keeping his vow as well as the threats both out with and from within Konoha?

* * *

"Kill the demon," the shouts came as the six-year-old boy ran for his life as the mob of angry villagers chased after him armed with various types of weapons and some threw stones at him.

"Go back to Hell where you belong you disgusting abomination," another person yelled as he hurled another stone at the young blonde.

Six-year-old Uzumaki Naruto was running for his life from a horde of angry villagers who where determined to end his young life. He didn't know why they were so hostile and hateful towards him. It was something he grew up with. Since as long as he could remember, the people had always hated him; sending him hateful glares and trying to hurt him. He had no idea who his parents were and spent the first five years of his life at an orphanage before the matrons kicked him out onto the streets of Konohagakure no Sato where he had been left to fend for himself.

Life at the orphanage had been hellish. The matrons had ignored him and the other children either followed their example or just simply picked on him and stole whatever few possessions he managed to obtain for himself. The matrons just turned a blind eye to him and he discovered one day that they actually encouraged the other children to steal his belongings and hand them over to them so they could confiscate them. There is only so much a person can take before they lash out and eventually, that's just what Naruto did.

On the day he was kicked out of the orphanage; his fifth birthday, one of the children had attempted to steal a teddy bear that he had found lying in the dumpster behind the orphanage and Naruto remembered how he fought back, lashing a punch at the boy's face and giving him a huge welt of a bruise on his left cheek. The matrons had intervened before the boy could retaliate and not surprisingly, they blamed Naruto for it and Naruto remembered how he verbally lashed out at them for siding with the boy who attempted to steal his bear and he shot them a hate-filled glare, which caused the two women to back off and Naruto clearly remembered the look of pure and absolute terror on their faces as they both stared at him like he was some kind of monster who was going to devour their flesh. After Naruto had calmed down, they two women had practically thrown him out; literally as they both lifted him up and threw him out onto the streets.

Life of the streets was no better. The people immediately went after him with the intent to kill if they ever caught him. He was forced to life off scraps and leftovers that people threw out and even resorted to stealing just to survive.

However, eventually the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen discovered him after a week of being on the streets and had fixed him up with his own apartment and gave him a weekly allowance so he could buy things, but most stores wouldn't let him in and the few that did would overcharge him even for the most basic and useless of items; some of the store owners would even raise their price if they discovered that he did indeed have enough money to pay for the item… they would overcharge him as usual and if he had enough money they would demand even more just so he couldn't pay.

* * *

**Seven months ago**

_Naruto was in Konoha's General Store waiting in line to be served after he decided to buy a new pen to replace the one the Sandaime had given him to mark his calendar. Already he could feel just about everyone else's eyes bearing on him with glares of absolute hate. Parents clutched onto their children, motioning them away from him like he was some kind of disease and the children looked between him and their parents, confused as to why their parents were motioning them away from him._

"_Stay away from him," Naruto heard a man whispering to his daughter, "He's nothing but trouble and will only lead you to an early grave."_

"_But why daddy?" the little girl asked, loud enough for the entire store to hear, "He doesn't look bad."_

"_Just take my word for it, he'll end up killing you if you become friends with him," the girl's father replied in a slightly raised voice with a hardened, serious tone as he turned his head towards Naruto and shot him a nasty glare causing Naruto to cringe as he walked up to counter as it was his turn to be served._

_He placed the red felt-tipped pen on the counter and the store owner just looked down at it with a blank look on his face before looking up to glare at Naruto._

"_Is this all?" he asked in a nasty tone that would lead one to believe that he had been insulted._

_Naruto just nodded, trying his best to ignore the cruel man's glare as well as the glares of the people behind him and throughout the store._

"_Yeah, that'll be all sir," Naruto replied as he moved to fork out his money, which was in his picket in a green frog-decorated wallet._

_He had been sure to bring a lot of money with him as he remembered the last time he had been here, the man had demanded ten times the price for the last item he tried to buy. This time, he would surprise the man. This time, he would get what he wanted._

"_That'll be 70,000 ryo," the man said, knowing that the pen only cost a mere 200 ryo, but not caring since it was the "demon brat"._

_Naruto pulled out the money and placed it on the counter and shot the store owner a huge foxy grin as if to say, "Ha, ha, I came prepared this time"._

"_There, 70,000 ryo, just like you asked," he said in a triumphant and boastful tone._

_The store owner as well as everyone else in the store just looked at Naruto with gobsmacked looks. The store owner looked at Naruto and then at the money on the counter before his face twisted in pure and utter hate as he glared back at Naruto and felt his fists tighten at his sides. He was not going to let this "demon spawn" get the best of him. He was quite determined to ruin Naruto's plans and get him out of his store._

"_Did I say 70,000 ryo?" the man said with gritting teeth as he tried to calm himself down, "What I meant to say was 850,000 ryo."_

"_WHAT!" Naruto said in shock as the grin immediately vanished from his face, "That's not fair, you can't just change yore price when I gave you the amount you asked for."_

"_This is my store and I can do whatever I want," the man said as he folded his arms and shot Naruto a sadistic "What're you gonna do about it?" grin._

"_But I don't have that much," Naruto said in protest, shocked that the store owner had gotten one up on him._

"_Tough luck freak," the man said in the same cruel boastful tone as before, "Now if there's nothing else, get the hell outta my store."_

_Naruto just glared at the man who continued to look at him boastfully._

"_I'll get you for this," he muttered under his breath as the man unfolded his arms and moved to pick up the pen._

_However, before he could grab it, Naruto swiped it from the counter and then ran out of the store laughing as if he was the most carefree boy in the world._

"_Ha, ha, looks like I got the last laugh after all old man!" Naruto shouted back leaving the store owner fuming and glaring at the doorway Naruto had exited from. _

"_If you won't give me, I'll just take," Naruto's voice came from outside._

"_YOU INSUFFERABLE VERMAIN!" the store owner screamed in rage, causing the children in the store to jump and hide behind their parents' bodies in fear at the raging store owner, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I'LL EVER DO!"_

"_See what I mean," the father from before said to his quivering daughter who was hugging his leg from behind, frightened that the store owner was going to hurt her, "Like I said, that boy's nothing but trouble."_

_The man's daughter just nodded in agreement._

* * *

**Present**

Naruto shivered as he remembered that. He had decided that if they would overcharge him prices that they know he couldn't afford, he'd just steal what he wanted. It got him into trouble with the ANBU, but he had gotten even with the store owner. Not only did he take the pen, but after the ANBU had returned it to the store, Naruto had let off a stink bomb in the store, which closed it down for a whole week.

Luckily the Sandaime had managed to get Naruto a replacement pen and the store owner was dealt with. However, the man's punishment only served to fuel the people's hatred of him. The beatings didn't stop and they only intensified after the store owner's execution. The Sandaime, who predicted that the beatings and attempted killings would only increase had assigned ninja to protect him, but some of the assigned ninja actually joined in with the villagers and those who didn't were usually distracted. It was a miracle that Naruto was still alive.

When it came to the aftermath of the beatings, Naruto was admitted to hospital and the first time, the doctors and nurses refused to treat him and tossed him out. However, this prompted the Sandaime to assign some ANBU guards; guards that he trusted not to try and kill the boy to make sure that he received the proper treatment while he dealt with the ninja who participated n the villagers' beatings. The ANBU guards were former medical ninja before becoming ANBU as they knew most of, if not all the medical procedures and so they would know if the doctors and nurses tried anything funny. Even Naruto's food was checked before being served to him in case the hospital staff tried to poison him.

Naruto shut his eyes as he continued to run from the angry villagers. Why did they hate him so much? What was it that he could've possibly done that could have merited such hatred? He had no idea. Only the Sandaime, the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, his daughter and an ANBU with a dog's mask seemed to like him if not tolerate him. Naruto knew that no one else liked him. Even the ninja assigned to protect him who didn't participate in the beatings hated him and only stepped in to help because they feared the Sandaime and what he would do to them if they went against his orders. They would intentionally allow themselves to become distracted to give an excuse why they didn't come to Naruto's aid whenever they could and even though the Sandaime suspected that they were doing so intentionally, he couldn't prove it.

"Why can't you just die?" a woman shouted as she threw a cleaver at Naruto, which he managed to dodge by ducking without stopping.

"Just rid us of your repulsive existence," a man called out, throwing a stone that Naruto veered clear of.

Naruto continued to run as he dodged and veered from hurling projectiles. Why was this happening to him? All he did was decide to go out for a walk. Unfortunately, he just happened to stumble upon the village square where the festival celebrating the anniversary of the defeat of the dreaded Kyuubi no Yoko at the hands of the Yondaime Hokage. Unfortunately the battle had cost the Yondaime his life. Today was 10th October. Six years ago the Kyuubi no Yoko had attacked the village without reason or provocation. Many ninja had died before the Yondaime had come and defeated it. That was the story Naruto had heard. He witnessed the children in the ninja academy re-enact that horrible night and even witnessed the burning of a huge effigy of the Kyuubi made of straw. It was then that someone had noticed him and that was how the chase began.

"These guys are really serious this time," Naruto thought fearfully, "They're really gonna kill me this time."

Last year, he had spent the spent the day curled up in the corner of an alley and missed the festival completely. This year, he hadn't been meaning to go to the festival, but during his walk he had heard the commotion and curiosity had gripped his interest. However, now it seemed that his curiosity would cost him.

"Man, whoever said curiosity killed the cat sure wasn't kiddin'," Naruto thought as he continued to run, frantically searching for a way out.

He knew that if he was caught this time, he would be dead. The hatred from the pursuing villagers seemed to have been greatly intensified. He had been beaten before, but the level of hatred had never been this bad before and even at its average level Naruto knew that he would be lucky to survive. With the Sandaime and ninjas distracted due to the festival, Naruto knew that no one would be coming to his rescue this time. The ANBU were busy on patrol on the outskirts of the village, as the festival could be seen as the perfect opportunity for Konoha's enemies to attack the village. Most of the regular ninja were busy at the festival and the Sandaime was overseeing the whole thing. Even if he happened upon a ninja, Naruto doubt that the ninja would help him and they had the perfect excuse.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Naruto shouted back at his murderous pursuers, "What did I ever do to you?"

"You know damn well what you did!" someone shouted back in a voice full of hate.

"Don't act like you don't know!" someone else called out

"It's a crime for you to exist!" a third person hurled at him in agreement with the other two.

Tears poured down his cheeks as he ran. He just couldn't understand it. The people hated him and he hadn't a clue as to why. It was like fate itself had deemed his existence a mistake even before he was born and was trying so desperately to rectify it; not that Naruto ever believed in such a thing, but sometimes he wondered if perhaps there was at least some truth in fate. It wasn't fair though, why was he so hated when others who had done wrong to others got off scot free just because of everyone's hatred of him?

It wasn't the first time that Naruto would awaken and find his apartment full of items that he did not recognise and then the ANBU would came in and he would then know that items in his apartment were stolen. Apparently, the villagers' hatred of him had made him a convenient scapegoat for criminals; using everyone's hatred of him to commit crimes and then leave the evidence on his doorstep and when it was discovered, everyone would immediately assume that it was him while the real criminals got away with it.

Luckily the Sandaime had managed to get those incidents sorted and the real criminals always got theirs in the end, but that didn't sit to well with the villagers; after all, they saw those incidents as perfect opportunities to try and do away with him and were more than prepared to give those criminals a full pardon if it meant the demise of the "demon brat".

Anyway, Naruto suddenly turned to his right noticing an alley.

"You can't get away!" someone called as the angry mob followed Naruto down the alley.

However, the alley that Naruto had chosen to run down unfortunately led to a dead end and the group of angry villagers had already blocked off his retreat.

"We got ya now demon," a man said as he hurled a really big stone at him.

The stone missed and instead smashed a window that overlooked the alley and led into an abandoned building. If Naruto had been thinking rationally, he would have noticed the window and would have used it for his escape, but unfortunately, he was so gripped with fear at the fact that he had ran into a dead end that he failed to see the window. He was now facing the angry villagers and was walking backwards into the right corner of the alley.

"Look like yer luck's finally run out monster," a man said as he stepped out from the group and took the front as the mob advanced on him, "This time, no one's here ta save ya this time."

Naruto studied the man as he looked up at him with eyes full of fear. The man was an average-sized man with a slight muscular build with short black hair that looked as if it was starting to go grey and he also had sharp cold brown eyes and oozed out rage and hate as he looked down at Naruto despite the smirk on his face. He wore the usual blue sandals that mostly everyone wore, dirty looking green trousers, a white shirt that looked as if it had been lying in a mud puddle for a while and a black sleeveless waistcoat. It was his eyes that frightened Naruto the most. They spoke volumes of how he truly felt about the boy quivering before him.

"What're ya gonna do now, huh?" the man taunted cruelly as Naruto backed up into the corner as he continued to bore a hole in him with his rage-filled glare, "Ya should've never come out on this day monster because today is the day yer life gets snuffed out."

With nowhere left to run, Naruto fell to the ground and curled up into a ball as if in some feign effort to protect himself.

"Just leave me alone," he said; his voice barely above a whisper.

"Huh, I didn't quite catch that," the man said in a cruel tone as he raised his hand to the side of his ear as if trying to amply his hearing.

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" Naruto snapped as he looked up at the man, who was now ahead of the rest of the mob and just a few inches from him.

"Leave you alone," the man said as his expression and tone became more serious before closing his eyes for a brief moment.

His face then twisted to one of absolute pure rage as he covered the last few inches and then bent down and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck.

"Leave you alone," the man repeated in a loud voice; his tone full of fury, anger and hate, "Like hell I'm gonna leave you alone you walking abomination. We're gonna rectify a mistake that should have been rectified six years ago. Yer da one responsible for ma brother's execution seven months ago."

However, Naruto wasn't listening. He was busy frantically looking and feeling around with his hands for anything he could use to get this brute of a man to unhand him.

"Ya remember ma brother, don't ya?" the man went on in a cruel uncaring tone, either not noticing or didn't care if Naruto was listening to him or not, "Ran da General Store that ya stole a pen from? Yeah, I remember that. Ma brother got executed 'cause of that and why? Because ya somehow bewitched da Hokage inta bein' yer attack dog. Now it's time ta pay da piper."

He then released Naruto and reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a knife that he had hidden underneath.

"Yes, kill it, kill the demon!" the rest of the mob shouted as they cheered the man on, raising their arms into the air in an encouraging way.

The man turned to look at the crowd and gave them a smile before nodding. However, just as he turned to face the crowd, Naruto's right hand just happened to come across a broken shard of glass that had fallen from the smashed window and had somehow fallen outside instead of inside the building. When the man turned back to face Naruto, Naruto noticed the knife in the man's hand and panic soon took over, so much so that he had no idea what happened next.

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted in a panicked tone as he tightened his hold on the glass shard, not caring that it was cutting into his skin and before anyone knew what was happening, Naruto quickly took the shard in his hand and thrust it into the man's throat.

The man's eyes widened in shock and in fear as he felt the sharp object pierce his juggler. He opened his mouth to speak, but coughed up blood instead before backing off a few feet, still coughing up blood in splutters and then dropped to the ground dead with the shard still lodged in his throat.

No one spoke as the crowd watched the one that was going to rid them of the "demon spawn" dropped to the ground dead. His eyes were wide open and full of shock. No one thought that this would happen. No one thought that the "demon" would retaliate. In the past, Naruto would just curl up into a ball and take his abuse until the ninjas came to save him. He had never lashed out before and now that he had, the crowd that had been cheering the man on as they demanded his blood be spilled were not sure what to think. What did this mean for them? Were they in danger?

It was then that Naruto's brain finally caught up with him and his eyes widened in shock as they fell upon the dead body of the man who was about to kill him a few moments ago. Even he had no idea what happened, though seeing the shard of glass he remembered having in his hand before his mind went blank now lodged in the dead man's throat told him that he had been responsible for it; he had killed the man. He looked at the rest of the crowd who were still shocked at what they had witnessed.

"W-wh-what…?" he tried to say, but the rest of his words left him before they could leave his mouth.

This stutter immediately got the crowd's attention and they suddenly felt fear take root in their hearts. What was the "demon" going to do now that it had killed one of them? Their good mood and their rage had all been washed away by the fear that now had established dominance within them. They watched as Naruto picked himself up and looked towards the crowd, as if looking for answers as to what just happened.

"Wh-what…?" he said as he took a step towards the crowd.

The crowd suddenly screamed as they looked at Naruto with sheer terror in their eyes; the look that Naruto remembered the two orphanage matrons having when he lashed out at them and that terrified him. He knew that he had killed the man despite not remembering doing it and it now looked as if the crowd that had been so determined to kill him moments ago were now backing off like frightened rabbits. Just what was it about him that scared the people so much? He took another step towards the crowd and someone suddenly screamed and turned to run away. This prompted the rest of the crowd to do the same.

"It's finally showing its true colours!" a woman screamed.

"Its power must've been restored!" a man shouted, desperate to get away from Naruto as he pulled his fellow villagers back in an effort to get out of the alley and away from Naruto as quickly as possible.

"I don't wanna die!" a teenager shouted running as fast as he could, shoving those in front of him out of his way as he, like the man who claimed that the "demon's" power had been restored, he was trying to get away from Naruto as quickly as possible.

What had started out as a group effort to kill the "demon" had now turned into an "every man for himself" scramble to get away from "it".

* * *

The woman walked down the street as she followed the crowd of angry villagers with a confident smirk framing her face. She could hardly believe that the "demon" had actually shown up at the festival, prompting the villagers' anger. She had been the one who had ranted him out. In fact she had been watching the "demon" for quite some time ever since he had been thrown out the orphanage. She had instigated most of the major beatings the boy suffered throughout his life, though she never really participated in any of them. No sense in risking getting caught, especially when she had a child to support.

To her, the "demon" boy was the bane of her very existence. He contained the Kyuubi no Yoko, her husband's killer and yet, she had come to see that he was just indeed, a boy who was clueless about the burden he carried; an innocent who was just as much a victim of the Kyuubi's attack as anyone else. However, that didn't stop her from hating him and it infuriated her the more she thought about it. If only those foolish villagers knew… if they did, they'd realise that Kyuubi was only part of the reason she hated the boy and she wondered if they'd be so quick to try and kill him, especially if they knew the Yondaime's last wish.

She let out a small chuckle thinking about it. Maybe some of the villagers would still hate him if they knew. After all, throughout history, she had come to learn that people were ignorant and it felt like they would only feel better so long as someone, anyone and they didn't care who it was got punished. Revenge was a sick and twisted force to exist. If the person who wronged you had already died before you could enact your revenge or you couldn't take your revenge for whatever other reason, they you would go for the next best thing. That's what the villagers were doing. They couldn't enact their revenge on the Kyuubi, so they used Naruto, the Kyuubi's container as a perfect substitute.

"What a fool you were Minato-"kun"," she said to herself, emphasising the kun suffix in a mocking tone, "You should've realised that these fools would never see that piece of disgusting trash as a hero. You're lack of foresight is really amusing to the point where it's almost laughable. You really don't understand human nature all that well. They don't understand the situation and history has shown that humans fear what they don't understand."

She then looked up at the night sky with a boastful… almost taunting look on her face. The villagers were foolish and fearful and their fear made them easy to manipulate. They were mere pawns to her. She had instigated many of the attacks on Naruto, but not all. She kept her distance and would always leave whenever the ANBU or ninja showed up. No one under that foolish old man's payroll suspected a thing. The attacks she instigated were set up to make it look like random opportunistic moments and none of those caught spilled the beans. After all, who would suspect someone operating behind the scenes when the reason for attacking him was plainly obvious? Many villagers lost loved one at the hands of the Kyuubi and they… in their hatred blindly took it out on the beast's container. Even if the ANBU knew that the attacks were co-ordinated, they would never suspect that the mastermind would remain at a distance and would foolishly believe that the mastermind would be among those participating. After all, who didn't want a piece of the "demon" that almost destroyed their villager and killed their loved ones?

The woman was smart. She learned to exercise patience through her experiences. As a retired ninja who attained the rank of jonin before parenthood and her husband's death forced her retirement, she knew patience and stealth as well as utilising the tools at her disposal… only in this case her "tools" happened to be the villagers and in their desire to get rid of the "demon" not one of them suspected that the woman was using them and disposing of them via the legal system, which was totally oblivious to her scheme. Why dispose of useless pawns yourself when there were others to do it for you?

"It's gonna kill us," a voice came, catching the woman's attention as she looked in front of her.

She saw the people in the crowd that had chased after the "demon" brat running out from an alley with terrified looks on their faces as they scattered in all directions. She may not have seen everyone who was in the crowd, but she recognised enough of them to know that it was the same crowd she had ranted Naruto out to and it looked as if they were fleeing from him now.

A mixture of panic and curiosity flowed through her as she suddenly burst into a run to see what was happening. She was fearful that perhaps the boy had unconsciously tapped into the Kyuubi's monstrous chakra and had scared them off. However, she hadn't seen any signs that that had indeed happened, which was why she was curious. She could distinctly remember the Kyuubi's chakra and what it felt like despite not having felt it in six years. She remembered how frightful and horrifying it felt. To describe it plainly, it was like the killing intent of a million jonin all staring at her with the intent of ending her life and she had been nowhere near the bottleful that night since she had been busy taking care of her six-month-old baby. In all her years plotting the Kyuubi container's destruction, she had always had this underlying fear that he would tap into the monster's chakra and use it to defend himself. After all, he was only human and human's could only take so much before being overwhelmed and it would be an opportunity like that the Kyuubi would capitalise on to break free to finish what it started or at the very least use Naruto's body to that end. She had always been careful in the past. She had made sure that the ninja guarding him who allowed themselves to be distracted weren't distracted too long for fear of the Kyuubi's influence. No matter how much she wanted Naruto dead, she always feared Kyuubi's influence.

However, as she reached the alley and took a cautious step into the alley, she was relieved to see Naruto on his knees looking down at the ground, apparently in shock as a dead body of a man lay in front of him with a shard of glass lodged in his throat.

"Those fools really are so pathetic and foolish it's laughable," she thought with a snort, "He gets lucky and kills one of his attackers with a glass shard and they all scatter like frightened rabbits. Cowards, the whole lot of 'em. It's not like he summoned "its" chakra and yet from their reactions, one would think that he would have done. Guess fear really does make one foolish."

She then looked down at Naruto who looked depressed and dispirited as he just stared down at the ground, not moving a muscle before letting out a cruel sneer of contempt, which did nothing to alert the boy to her presence. He just sat there on his knees looking down at the ground and completely oblivious to his surroundings. He didn't acknowledge the woman's presence nor did he show that he was aware that she was there.

The woman just glared down at him with nothing but contempt and revulsion… the container of her husband's killer and… she really didn't want to think about it and the edges of her lips suddenly curled into a cruel smirk as she contemplated on how easy it would be just to end the pathetic boy's life. With mostly everyone's attention at the festival, she could do it and get away with it. If some passing villagers found him later, they'd probably dispose of the body and even if an ANBU or regular ninja found the body and reported it to the Hokage, there was no way it would be traced back to her unless the old coot was willing to execute the village's entire population, which she knew was impossible.

However, she felt that killing him here and now would be too easy, not to mention the Sandaime and a few ninjas would mourn the loss of the "demon" while the rest of the village celebrated "its" death and no doubt, the old codger would make life difficult for the village in the coming years as a form of punishment since she knew how fond he was of the boy. She shook her head as she briefly closed her eyes; content with what she had planned. No; she wouldn't kill him… yet.

"What's wrong boy, why are you just kneeling there?" she asked in a tone of fake sympathy as if oblivious to the dead body between her and Naruto.

"I… I… I… k-k-killed some… someone," Naruto choked out in a heartbroken tone, not once looking up from the ground.

"You killed someone?" the woman said in fake shock as she placed her hands over her open mouth despite the fact that Naruto wasn't looking up at her, "Why would you do that?"

"I d-d-d-don't k-know," Naruto replied, spluttering out his words as his voice became more broken, "E-everyone hate m-m-me and… and I d-don't k-know w-w-why. I remember the man c-c-c-coming at me a-a-and th-then the next thing I r-r-remember, he's d-d-dead with a shard of… of g-g-glass in his throat and I… I remember g-grabbing a shard of glass before my m-m-mind went blank."

The woman listened carefully as she listened to Naruto, closing her eyes and nodding after he finished.

"I see, so this village hates you and you have no idea why?" she asked in a steady tone.

"Uh huh," Naruto said, nodding his head, though he still didn't look up at the woman.

There was a brief silence as the woman pondered her next course of action.

"Well then," she finally said after a few minutes or so, "It seems to you like they hate you for no valid reason, though I'm sure they do have their reasons, but if they won't give you a straight answer, then hate them back. Reward hatred with hatred. If they attack you, then fight back. Kill more of them; make them pay for what they did to you. Strike fear in their very souls. Kill anyone you see if it helps. If they see you as a monster, then become one; show them what a monster can do. Destroy this village if it makes you feel better. Do whatever it takes to make this entire village suffer for what you've suffered."

She then turned and walked away leaving Naruto still staring at the ground with wide eyes as he heard what she had said. The woman had an evil smirk on her face as she retraced her steps back to the village square as she thought about her plan.

"Yes, that's right; become just as much of a monster as the one sealed away in you," she thought with an evil laugh, "It'll give me the perfect excuse to kill you later on without worrying about consequences as even the Hokage and his merry band of followers will turn against you and all my troubles will finally be laid to rest."

* * *

**Glossary**

Konohagakure no Sato – Village Hidden in the Leaves

Konoha – Leaf

Hokage – Fire Shadow (Leader of Konoha)

Sandaime – Third

Yondaime – Fourth

Kyuubi no Yoko – Nine-Tailed Fox

Kyuubi – Nine-Tails

Ryo – Currency of the Five Great Shinobi Nations

Ninja (also known as Shinobi) – A Hidden Village's military force

Chakra – A person's physical and spiritual energy mixed together and also the means in which ninja use to perform most of their techniques (Animals, normal village civilians and other living things also possess chakra, they just can't use it the same way ninjas can)

Jonin – Elite Ninja (High ranking ninja)

ANBU (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai) – Ninjas wearing animals masks to conceal their identities that take orders from their village's leader and deal with the most extreme missions and deal with the most dangerous criminals or extremely powerful ninja.

Kun – Used as a suffix at the end of someone's name by a person of senior status in addressing or referring to someone of junior status or by anyone addressing or referring to male children or even by girls/women when addressing a boy/man they're emotionally attached to or have known for a long time.

* * *

**Author's notes **– This is my first attempt at a Naruto fanfic, so how is it? I have to admit that even though I've not seen every single Naruto anime episode and I only started following the manga in October/November, last year, I pretty much know the basic plot. The manga's up to chapter 448 where Naruto's currently confronting Nagato a.k.a. Pein and said that even though he hates Nagato for what he's done he won't kill him and Nagato's now unsure of his beliefs and is about to perform a jutsu despite saying that he'll believe in Naruto. Anyway, as for the first chapter of my story, I have to say that I have a habit of hyping things up; blowing them out of proportions. Maybe I'm overdoing it going into Naruto's past. After all, I don't recall the manga or anime saying anything about the villagers beating Naruto; just that they ignored him or regarded him with ice-cold glares. Beatings and attempted assassinations seem to just be plot devices used by authors to heighten Naruto's experiences, though having said that; I'm going to use that same plot device. Besides, there may have mentions of beatings in an anime episode or manga chapter I haven't seen yet. As I said in my warnings, be prepared for a strong and smart Naruto, though I won't make Naruto so strong that he can fight on even ground or beat jonin level ninja upon graduation and as for OOC, I won't make Sakura and Ino ravenous "We care about Sasuke and everything else can go to hell" fangirls. I hate bashing of female characters, though I like a few Sakura-bashing stories like Naruto: Rise of the Lord of Foxes by VFSNAKE and I do have a few Sakura-bashing ideas buzzing in my head, but all of those end with Sakura redeeming herself in the end. As for Sasuke, I'm not sure about him yet. As things stand in the manga, he and Naruto are definitely on course for another battle since Sasuke's out to destroy Konoha for the destruction of his clan. However, somehow I envision either Sasuke killing Madara and taking his place, becoming the main antagonist of the story or Naruto and Sasuke joining forces to take Madara down. Lemons… I'm not so sure about because one, I did practice writing a few and I felt that the way I wrote them was rather dry and boring and there's always the chance that the fic could get deleted by the administers. Though if I do decide to put in a lemons and the fic gets deleted, I'll just re-upload the story without the lemons. As for the story itself, I'm planning on having Naruto being paired with multiple girls (3 max) and along with the usual threats of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, Danzo and this mysterious woman (whose identity will not be revealed for now) will be behind-the-scenes antagonists, with their own separate goals for Naruto (the woman wants him dead and Danzo wants to use him to further his own ambitions). From the woman's last speech, I'm guessing that you can guess what her plan for Naruto is. However, next chapter, Naruto sees Sarutobi who helps him deal with what he's done and gives him advice to prevent him from walking down the path the woman has set for him. I'm not sure when my next update will be, but I'll try to update ASAP, but updates will be random, sometimes days apart, sometimes weeks or months apart.


	2. Sandaime's talk, Naruto's vow

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 2 – Sandaime's talk, Naruto's vow**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

Naruto looked up after a few moments of thinking about what the woman had told him, only to find that she wasn't there. She had already gone and Naruto felt his depression return. He had not long just killed someone who was going to kill him and even though he had no memory of doing it, he knew that he had been the one that ended the man's life. Well, the bright side was that he had scared off the rest of his attackers who had seemed to flee as if he had become some kind of crazed psychopath who was going to kill him and yet, the fact that killing the man scared off the rest of the crowd who were out for his blood did little, if anything to brighten his mood.

"_Hate them back,_" the woman's voice echoed in his head, "_Reward hatred with hatred. If they attack you, fight back. Kill more of them; make them pay for what they did to you. Strike fear into their very souls. Kill anyone you see if it helps. If they see you as a monster, then become one; show them what a monster can do. Destroy this village if it makes you feel better. Do whatever it takes to make this village suffer for what you've suffered._"

Those words bounced about his head as he looked at the still body of the man he had killed. He didn't know what to feel anymore. At first when he realised what he'd done, he felt absolutely terrible. He really couldn't find the words to accurately describe how he felt, but it left him feeling dispirited, dejected and depressed. He honestly didn't know what to feel other than raw emptiness; like he was falling into a bottomless pit of never-ending darkness with no life line to escape. He honestly couldn't believe he'd done such a thing and the very thought that he had frightened him to no end.

However, then this mysterious woman had shown up and basically told him not to let it bother him, but to suck it up and kill more people if they tried to beat him again. That had been the woman's underlying message. Sure, Naruto could admit to himself that he hated the villagers. He already knew how to reward hatred with hatred. They hated him and they wouldn't give him a valid reason as to why leading him to wonder if he had been born to be hated by the world and he had decided that if they were going to hate him, then he'd just return that feeling. However, when it came to acting on his hatred, Naruto always made those who wronged him pay through pranks, like that time he let off a stink bomb in the village's General Store because he couldn't get a pen he wanted and when he stole it, the ANBU came and took it off him and returned it. In retaliation, he planted a stink bomb in the store and let it off, which caused the store to be closed down for a whole week, though the owner never got the opportunity to return as the Sandaime had him executed for his mistreatment of Naruto. However, Naruto wondered if he could really go higher and kill those who sought to hurt him. The man he'd killed had been the former store owner's brother and it was obvious that he was upset that his brother was gone and blamed Naruto and sought to kill him for it.

Could he do something similar? Could he seek to kill those who wronged him? Pranks were pranks and they didn't seem to be effective in making the people's hatred of him go away. In fact, his pranks seemed to make it worse and Naruto wanted desperately more than anything to make the villagers' hatred of him go away. Could killing them and striking fear into their hearts be the way to go? He had to admit, it was tempting, but it didn't make the guilt over the man's death or the dejection, depression and dispirited feelings that accompanied it go away. Could he really live with himself if he killed more villagers? He clenched his eyes shut and violently shook his head and thrashed about as he clenched his fists and brought them to the sides of his head.

"This is all so confusing," he thought, still on his knees, "I hate this. I don't know what to do."

He felt as if there were two sides of himself that were currently at war with one another; like he had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other arguing over whether Naruto should take up the woman's advice. Naruto had to admit that if the crowd's reaction to killing the man was anything to go by, then killing the next person who decided to try and kill him and the person after that and so on would probably get the villagers to leave him alone. However, on the other hand, could he really bring himself to do it? Could he become a monster and kill without remorse and take pleasure in making everyone suffer for what he suffered? The man suffered the loss of his brother and wanted to make him suffer. However, Naruto had a growing fear, a growing fear that if he did do what the woman told him to, he'd end up regretting it later on and things would only end up worse. He didn't know why he felt that way. Maybe it was the fact that he was ashamed and frightened that he'd killed the man and as tempted as Naruto was to follow the woman's words; it didn't lessen nor change his feelings towards the man's death.

"Naruto?" a voice came, causing Naruto to come out of his mind's inner struggle and look up.

Standing in front of him and looking down at the body was a man with whitish silver hair wearing a grey dog mask with black covers over the eyeholes, though with tiny holes and thin material making it easy for him to see, a tight black sleeveless shirt with grey armour over it strapped over his shoulders and appeared to have a zipper at running down the centre at the front. He also wore black gloves that ran up most of the length of his arms with grey arm guards over the top up to the elbow, standard shinobi trousers with bandages wrapped round his right thigh near the top that helped hold his kunai and shuriken holster in place and the regular shinobi sandals along with bandages that ran from his ankles up to halfway between his knees and ankle, giving his trousers a somewhat baggy look where they met the bandages and he had a ninjato strapped to his back and a black spiral tattoo on his left shoulder that looked like a curved wavy line and an upside down question mark minus the dot that curled when the line started to curve

"Naruto, what happened here?" the man asked, though look down at the man's body and seeing the glass shard lodged in his throat, he could pretty much guess what had happened or at the very least, Naruto had killed the man.

"I-I-Inu-san," Naruto said as he eyes widened in fear at the man's presence, "I-I-I didn't mean t-t-to."

Fear now overwhelmed all other emotions from within Naruto. This man, codenamed Inu was one of the four people who Naruto could honestly say like or at least tolerated him. He was an ANBU whom Naruto had come pretty close to throughout his life. Inu had been the one who would mostly come to his rescue from the villagers whenever he suffered beatings. He was the one who caused the ninjas assigned to protect him who were intentionally allowing themselves to be distracted to get on with their jobs instead of indulging in whatever they were doing. Inu had saved Naruto's life more times than even the Sandaime cared to count. In truth, Naruto looked to Inu as a saviour and an idle next to his number one hero, the Yondaime Hokage.

However, now that Inu was here, what would happen now? Naruto knew that Inu had already put two and two together and deduced that he was the one responsible for the man's death and it scared him. He feared that his idle would turn on him since he always had a small fear that he was on the villagers' side and was only looking out for him because of orders from the Sandaime and was biding his time… waiting for the opportunity to do away with him to present itself and well… Naruto saw that this was as good an opportunity as any.

"Inu-san… p-p-please," he pleaded as he stared up at the masked man with horror written all over his face, "I-I didn't mean to. He was… was c-c-coming at me w-with a knife and… and I-I-I don't know what happened a-a-a-after that."

Naruto felt really pathetic at the moment. As truthful as his explanation was, he knew that if Inu was secretly on side with the villagers, then it wouldn't matter. Inu would either kill him right here and now or find a way to get the Sandaime to side with the villagers and make him look even worse than the people already believed him to be. He hated that he was so hated in the village for no apparent reason other than the fact that he was simply alive. He remembered some of the villagers screaming how his very existence was a crime against humanity and for a moment, the woman's advice that he should start killing those who hurt him suddenly became a bit more tempting.

However, Inu looked down at Naruto and stared into his eyes for a moment and saw the fear and uncertainty in them. He then walked over to Naruto and knelt down on one knee and placed his right hand on top of Naruto's head.

"Naruto, it's okay," he said in a comforting tone as he wrapped his left around the boy's waist, pulling him closer to him, "I'm sure that you were only defending yourself."

"B-b-b-but I killed someone," Naruto said in a raised voice, surprised that Inu said such a thing and still on guard in case he was trying to lull him into a false sense of security so he could double-cross him.

Inu sighed as his head dropped to look at the ground. He then brought his head back up to look at Naruto straight in the eyes before he placed both hi hands on his shoulders.

"Naruto, yes you did kill someone," Inu started explaining, "However, given how others have treated you in the past, I think it's save to say that had you not killed him, he would have killed you."

He paused as he looked towards the dead body and noticed a knife lying not far from the man's right hand, causing him to nod before turning back to face Naruto.

"However, this is a very serious issue and I'm afraid that it's going to have serious repercussions for you in the immediate future," he went on, "So, I'm afraid that you're going to have to come with me to see the Hokage."

Naruto looked up at Inu cautiously as he contemplated whether or not to believe him or not. For all he knew, it could still be a trap. In all Naruto's years of being hated, he had learned to read people's feelings through their eyes. He remembered the ice-cold glares he received whenever he passed anyone by when they weren't looking to kill him. Through those glares, he learned how to read a person's feelings just by looking into their eyes. The eyes seemed to by the one thing that could not mask a person's true feelings. Naruto had seen neutral and indifferent expressions on some of the people's faces and whenever there were situations that dealing with other people was unavoidable, Naruto saw that some of them would put on polite and happy smiles, but just by looking into their eyes Naruto knew how they really felt about him. A person's facial expression could hide a person's true feelings, a person's body language may be able to hide a person's true feelings, but a person's eyes couldn't hide their true feelings. Whenever a person tried to hide their true feelings behind masks of politeness and neutrality, their eyes reflected their true feelings. It was something that Naruto learned very early on.

Unfortunately, in this case, Inu's eyes were hidden underneath his dog mask. As easy as the material that covered the eyeholes made it for Inu to see, Naruto just couldn't see his eyes through the material, so Naruto knew that he had to be extra cautious while around ANBU since their masks shielded their eyes from his gaze. The ANBU seemed to be more loyal to the Sandaime that the regular ninja, though Naruto's experiences in the past had taught him that one could never be too careful. One time, an ANBU did participate in one of the villagers' beatings, though he was quickly dealt with, but the experience had scarred Naruto and from then on, he knew never to trust anyone; even those who were seemingly loyal and obedient.

"Please Naruto, you'll have to trust me on this," Inu said in a semi-pleading, yet serious tone as if sensing the blonde's insecurities.

Naruto just continued to stare at him suspiciously, but at the very least, he got up off his knees and Inu stood up and took his hand in his own.

"I assure you Naruto that we're going to the Hokage," Inu said as he walked out of the ally with Naruto, "I honestly don't know what will happen to you, but I think it's save to assume that the villagers will now want your head more than ever."

Naruto flinched at this. Somehow he knew that it was true. As soon as those who had fled calmed down and realised that they were in no danger, their anger and hate would no doubt return even stronger than ever now that he had gone and killed someone and from what Naruto remembered, the villagers' anger and hatred had been more intense than it had ever been before and with a villager's death only adding to that, Naruto knew that the next few days were going to be even more of a living hell than before… that is assuming he survived that long. All he could do now was trust Inu and hope that he wouldn't lead him to his death. Naruto knew that he was no match for Inu… heck, he was no match for the man that he killed and only managed to kill him because he caught him off guard and Naruto then realised that going with Inu was not a choice. He had no choice but to trust him and hope for the best, though the woman's words on how he should become a monster and kill everyone seemed to become increasingly tempting as his wariness about Inu grew with every passing second.

* * *

Later that night at the Hokage Tower, much to Naruto's relief, both he and Inu stood before the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen himself as he listened to Inu's account on what happened. Needless to say, the old Hokage just sighed and shook his head once Inu finished as he knew that the next few days were going to cause him a major headache.

"So, you came across Naruto in an alley next to a dead body with a shard of glass lodged in the man's throat and Naruto here admitted to killing the man," Hiruzen said as he closed his eyes for a moment.

"Hai," Inu said with a nod as he turned his head and looked down at Naruto who was standing next to him on his left side.

Hiruzen sighed once again as he shook his head. This was just perfect. Ever since the Yondaime sacrificed his life to seal away they Kyuubi no Yoko, he had been forced to reinstate himself as the Yondaime hadn't gotten round to naming his successor before the beast attacked. Since he assumed his old post, it had been one major problem after another and many of those problems centred round Naruto and the villagers' hatred of him. When he first retook his old post, he had honoured the Yondaime's wish that Naruto be made a hero and tried to see to it that the boy had as much of a normal life as a Jinchuriki could possibly have. He even made a decree that no one was to tell Naruto or the younger generation of Naruto's connection to the beast that almost destroyed their villager and slaughtered so many of their loved one, hoping that the younger generation would come to accept Naruto. Even those who were caught whispering about it were dealt with. It was why the former General Store Owner was executed. His ranting over how Naruto had stolen a pen and let of a stink bomb in his store afterwards had almost caused him to spill the beans and Hiruzen remembered when the man actually had the nerve to lash out at him when he tried to calm him down.

* * *

**Seven months ago, a few days after Naruto's theft**

_Everyone ran of the General Store after an explosion occurred at the back and a foul odder quickly spread, causing everyone in the smell to quickly run outside with their hands over their mouths as they struggled to prevent the contents of their stomachs from making their way to the outside world and some failed miserably as they vomited right there on the street._

"_Eew, gross," a woman who was just passing by commented as she witnessed a man throw up right in front of her, just missing throwing up over her chest by a few centimetres. _

_She was about to deliver a vicious slap to the man who dared try to vomit on her when her nose caught a faint whiff of the smell coming from inside the store and heard the sound of coughs and vomiting, prompting her to look to her right and she saw an awful lot of people outside the general store struggling to cope with the foul smell that passed through their noses. Her eyes widened at this, but before she could ask anyone what had happened, she heard a child's laughter from behind her, causing her to spin round._

"_Ha, ha, ha! Take that!" a blonde haired five-year-old with big blue eye and whispers that appeared to be painted on his cheeks said as he pointed at the scene, laughing as if what happened was one of the funniest things in the world, "That'll teach you to overcharge me you grouchy old prune."_

"_Oh, it's just him," the woman thought as her face twisted to an expression of disgust and contempt, "Another disaster orchestrated by that vermin." _

_She then snorted in disgust before turning and stormed off, wanting to get as far away from the "demon brat" as possible. _

"_YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE TROLL!" the store owner screamed as he glared daggers at Naruto as his eyes radiated fury, hate and pure rage, "I'M GONNA SKIN YOU ALIVE FOR THIS!"_

"_Ha, ha, just try it you decrepit old prune," Naruto said tauntingly as he turned round and bent over before looking back at the store owner and slapped his own butt, "By the way, kiss my ass old man."_

_The store owner felt an eyebrow twitch as he watch Naruto's antics and struggled to restrain himself from lunging at the boy and ripping his throat out. He was sure that it was what Naruto was hoping for and he knew that it would probably lead to another humiliating situation. _

"_What's the matter, ya scared?" Naruto continued to taunt, "You said you were gonna skin me alive, well here I am; come get me if you can."_

"_You…!" the man growled in a dangerous tone as he clenched his fist and raised it in front of his face._

"_By the way, I just found out that your momma was so fat, she makes even the fattest Akimichi look slim and grossly underweight. How the hell did your daddy make love to the bitch?"_

_That was all it took. The store owner exploded with rage as he lunged at Naruto, who was already running away._

"_YOU INSENSITIVE LITTLE FOX!" he screamed just as two ANBU appeared and moved to restrain him as Naruto rounded a corner, "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" YOU'LL PAY FOR YOUR INOSOLENCE DAMN KYUUBI!" _

_This caused everyone in the area to gasp, as they were well aware of the Sandaime's decree and this furious man just broke it; not that anyone could blame him. He was letting his anger and rage take control and it was clear that he was seeing red. _

"_Alright, alright, calm down," one of the ANBU said as he held him back from chasing after Naruto._

"_LET ME GO!" the outraged store owner screamed, "HE HAS TO DIE! THAT THING MUST DIE! WE MUST FINISH WHAT THE YONDAIME STARTED!"_

"_Shut up!" the other ANBU said in a serious tone as he placed his hand over the man's mouth. _

_However, the livid man just responded by manoeuvring the top of his mouth over the ANBU's fingers and bit down hard, causing the man to scream in pain and release him, which caused everyone else who were watching to gasp in shock as the store owner turned to the other ANBU and drove his knee into his crotch. The men in the crowd all winced and unconsciously covered their own crotches with their hands._

"_He's in for it now," a man said as he watched the store owner start to chase after Naruto, only to be restrained by more ANBU._

"_YOU BUNCH OF DEMON LOVERS!" the irate man screamed in outrage, "HAVE YOU ALL BEEN BRAINWASHED! THE KYUUBI MUST DIE! YOU DARE PROTECT IT!"_

"_Okay, that's enough out of you," a new voice came causing everyone to look in the direction Naruto had run off in to see the Sandaime walking towards the enraged store owner with an ANBU wearing a dog mask behind him. _

"_Calm down," the Sandaime went on in a seriously hard tone, "You're lucky there are no children present to hear your annoying rants. Now calm down!"_

_The man's reply was to spit in his face and give him a glare of pure rage and hate._

"_You demon loving old relic," he spat with pure venom dripping from his voice, "You dishonour your chosen successor by allowing that thing to roam around freely when it should have been laid to rest the moment it was born. I say that we rise up and put you to death next to that disgusting vermin you love you much."_

_The Sandaime just gave the man a hard stare with no visible reaction. The rest of the crowd gasped at the man's words. Talk like that could be seen as treason and as kind and caring as the Sandaime was, everyone knew better than to get on his bad side. He was one of the greatest shinobi that Konoha had ever produced while he was in his prime and though much of that strength had left him since then, the villagers still knew that he was still more than capable of defending himself if the situation called for him to do so, which was why none of the villagers ever spoke openly about how they felt about his fondness for the "demon brat"._

"_It is you who dishonours my chosen successor, you all do," the Sandaime replied, turning to face the crowd as he said the last part, "It was the Yondaime's dying wish that the boy be seen as a hero and yet, none of you honour it. You disrespect him by persecuting the one he chose to keep the monster at bay from destroying our village."_

"_You lie!" the store owner said in a dangerously low growl, "There's no way the Yondaime would want us to look up to that walking monstrosity. He basically sealed the beast into that human form so we could finish the job. How dare you even suggest that twisted notion."_

_The Sandaime sighed as he shook his head before giving the ANBU a hard stare._

"_Take him away, I'll deal with him later," he ordered as he shot the man a harsh glare._

_The ANBU all nodded and dragged the man off, leaving the Sandaime shaking his head as he knew that this would only create another problem for him to deal with._

* * *

**Present**

Hiruzen shook his head as he remembered that incident. He hadn't wanted to execute the man, but he felt that he had no choice. The man was clearly going to reveal everything if he had been allowed to live and from what Inu had told him about Naruto's victim, Inu had recognised him as that same man's brother. The General Store was now under new ownership, but he remembered old owner's brother violently objecting to that notion as he said that that store had been in his family for generations and he should run the store in his brother's place. However, Hiruzen had shaken his head at that and forced the selling of the store as a form of posthumous punishment for the man's dead brother. He knew that the dead store owner's brother blamed Naruto not only for the death of his brother, whom he had been close to, but also for the loss of his family's store. However, he hadn't expected the man's hatred to be the cause of his demise just like his brother's. He just knew that this was going to have serious repercussions in the coming days.

"Why did I agree to take this job back?" he thought with a depressed sigh, "Since my reinstatement I've had to deal with nothing but trouble."

He then cleared his throat and gave Naruto a kind hearted smile before his face became serious.

"Okay Naruto, Inu-san here's told me that you killed someone and though I'm sure that you were only defending yourself, I'd like to hear your side of it," he said in a serious, yet gentle tone.

"Hai jiji," Naruto said with a nod before he started recounting what had happened; how he was out for a walk and happened to stumble upon the festival celebrating the Kyuubi no Yoko's demise and how someone saw him and a crowd of villagers chased him into an alley and how the man advanced on him with a knife and how his mind went blank and how he remembered seeing the shard of glass he remembered holding in his hand lodged in the man's throat.

He also recounted how the crowd all fled after that and how the looks on their faces reminded him of the two orphanage matrons that threw him out of the orphanage after he lashed out at them for siding with a boy that tried to steal his teddy bear and then how the mysterious woman came and told him to go and make the village pay for his suffering.

Hiruzen's eyes widened after hearing Naruto's story of the woman before hardening into a deadly serious look.

"You say that she came in and told you to kill more villagers?" he asked in a tone that Naruto knew meant that he was in no mood for dealing with trouble and he had the look to back it up.

"Uh huh," Naruto said in a more confident tone than before, as he felt safe, "I was depressed… still am at what happened and then I heard this woman's voice. She asked what was wrong and I told her and so then went on to tell me what I should go and kill everyone, strike fear into their hearts and destroy the village and I have to say that I'm kinda tempted to do that, but I just don't know what I should do."

Hiruzen gave Inu a look and then motioned to the door with his head, indicating that he would like to speak with Naruto alone and Inu nodded and gave a bow before leaving. Naruto watched him go and then turned back to face Hiruzen, a man who he had come to look up to as a grandfather.

"Jiji?" he said in a confused tone, "Where'd Inu-san go?"

"I sent him out," Hiruzen replied as he gave Naruto a serious look, "I want to talk to you about what this woman said to you. Now can you tell me what she looked like?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I didn't see who she was," he said with a sigh, "I was looking down at the ground the entire time. I couldn't believe that I actually killed that guy. Sure he was going to kill me, but…"

Hiruzen let out a disappointed sigh and shook his head. He had been planning on having the woman hunted down and brought in for questioning, but unfortunately, due to Naruto's depression, he couldn't do a thing because Naruto hadn't bothered to look up to see who was talking to him. The fact that someone had told Naruto to retaliate against the village for his suffering was troubling. If Naruto decided to follow the woman's advice and then discovered that he hosted the Kyuubi, Hiruzen feared that the Kyuubi would use the situation to its advantage and that could potentially spell disaster for not just Konoha, but the entire Five Great Elemental Shinobi Nations as a whole. If someone was looking to incite Naruto to retaliate against the village then it was imperative that this person was found and apprehended. Unfortunately, all he had to go on was that this person was a woman… didn't really narrow it down all that much. Anyway, Hiruzen knew that he would have to do something about it. If he couldn't catch this woman, then he would make sure he'd derail whatever plans she may have for Naruto and he'd start by making sure Naruto understood that what this woman wanted him to do was wrong.

"Naruto, your depression over what you did is understandable, but you did what you did because you had no other choice," he started to explain, catching Naruto's full attention, "As a Shinobi, I've killed more people than anyone could ever imagine and I still remember how I felt when I made my first kill. I wasn't thinking clearly and my enemy was coming right at me and I just acted without realising what I was doing. It's depressing, I know and the guilt and pain afterwards is so overwhelming it's almost unbearable. If it wasn't for Tobirama-sensei, who became the Nidaime Hokage and my immediate predecessor, I probably would have contemplated taking my own life."

"What did he do?" Naruto asked curiously, clearly intrigued at what his grandfatherly figure was telling him, "You felt the same way I did, but how did you deal with it?"

"Tobirama-sensei explained to me there are instances throughout life where one person may have no choice but to kill another person," Hiruzen replied with a sigh, "As difficult as that is to live with, it's true. Just about everyone feels sick about their first kill, though there are exceptions. It's a horrible feeling having to take the life of another and yet there are people out there who enjoy it and only kill just for the fun of it. However, in your case, you killed because that man would have killed you had you not done anything. Survival is the most powerful of human instincts and as much as those idiotic villagers believe otherwise, you're just as human as the rest of them. You were in a situation where it was either him or you and your instincts took over to protect you."

Naruto looked on in wonder and awe as he listened.

"My… instincts?" he said with a look of wonder on his face.

"Yes," Hiruzen replied with a nod, "The instinct to survive is so powerful that it could, at times overwhelm everything else and cause you to act without thinking. If someone was going to kill you, then your instincts would tell you to kill that person before he can kill you. As shocking and as upsetting as this is to hear, sometimes you must kill your enemy to protect yourself and your home. Ninjas are trained killers who do missions for the village, but also protect the village from those who seek its destruction and to do that, they must sometimes kill the enemy to do so otherwise the enemy would kill them and then destroy everything they fought to protect."

"I-I-I think I understand," Naruto said with a nod, though he still seemed a bit unsure of himself, "But what about what that woman told me?"

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head.

"Don't listen to her Naruto," he said in a harsh serious tone as he gave the boy a hard stare, "Whatever you do, you mustn't listen to her. People who go down that road always end up dead."

Naruto was taken aback by his grandfatherly figure's sudden change in tone and he took a few steps back with a small hint of fear in his eyes, causing Hiruzen to sigh.

"Naruto, I'm sorry I startled you," he said in a gentler tone and sighed, "However, you mustn't go down that road. It'll only lead you to a premature grave."

"O-o-okay jiji, if you say s-so," Naruto said in a hesitant tone as he gave the old Hokage an uneasy look.

"I know it's tempting considering what you've been through your entire life, but by going down that road; the road of vengeance you'll end up becoming just exactly what you set out to destroy if not worse," Hiruzen explained, giving Naruto a serious look, "Revenge is a powerful thing and the desire for it is part of human nature. However, those who go seeking revenge only end up hurting themselves in the end and are left with nothing. Is that what you want?"

Naruto shook his head. All he wanted in life was acknowledgement that wasn't covered with hate and scorn. He wanted to be accepted by the village and to have the one thing it seemed that fate had denied him; people who he could call family, people who didn't judge him for whatever reason the villagers had for hating him and the more he thought about, the more he came to realise that taking the woman up on her advice would mean that he would still be denied those things.

Hiruzen nodded at Naruto's expression as he knew that Naruto realised the logic in what he was saying.

"So, if I were to kill more people, I'll just be like the people who try to kill me?" he said and Hiruzen nodded.

"They call me names like demon and monster you know," Naruto said as he looked down at the floor with a depressed look on his face, but he then looked back up at the old Hokage with a determined look in his eyes, "So what you're saying that if I did do what that woman told me, I'll not only become just as hateful as they are, but I'll be proving them right?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"If you take revenge on a monster, then you become just like that monster," he said in a serious tone, "Though you have every right to defend yourself and I won't hold it against you if someone else ends up dead because you were defending yourself. That is within your right as a human being, but if you kill out of hatred, you'll become every bit a monster as the one they see you as." "May Kami help us all if that ever happens," he added in his thoughts with a wince, remembering that Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed within him.

Naruto's determination did not waver for a minute he then looked Hiruzen right in the eye.

"Then from this day forward, I, Uzumaki Naruto vow never to kill another living soul unless I have no other choice," he declared in a seriously hard tone, "I don't know why everyone hates me so much and I'm sure they have their reasons, but I'm gonna prove 'em all wrong about me someday. I'm gonna strive to prove myself to everyone and then I'll become Hokage someday."

Hiruzen chuckled as he watched Naruto making his declaration and the edges of his lips curled into a smile. Leave it to Naruto to brighten up one of his dull moods.

"Besides, what would Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-chan think of me if I did go on a killing spree of the village?" he went on as he thought about the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and his daughter, "They'd no doubt abandon me."

Ichiraku Teuchi and his daughter Ayame where perhaps the only two villagers who didn't regard him with such hatred and scorn. They didn't participate in any the beatings nor did they chase him away from their stand. They were the only ones who treated him as if he was a person and not some kind of monster. Ramen was Naruto's favourite food and he visited the Ramen Stand frequently and both Teuchi and Ayame enjoyed his company. He realised that if he were to give into temptation and become a monster, then he'd be abandoning them and they, along with Inu were his only friends and that only served to strengthen his resolve.

"I won't kill again," he said to Hiruzen in a serious tone and a determined look in his eyes as if he had given the nail a final strike with the hammer, "I'll become a ninja and prove everyone wrong about me; I swear it."

Hiruzen nodded with a smile on his face.

"That's the spirit Naruto," he said, glad that Naruto's spirits, as well as his own had been lifted.

* * *

Later that night, Inu was standing in the Hokage's Office, Inu stood before the Sandaime awaiting orders. Ever since Naruto's vow and declaration, Hiruzen had been deep in thought, knowing that the next few days, if not weeks will become difficult as Naruto's killing would no doubt send shockwaves throughout the village, making the villagers' hatred more intense than ever before and the fact that it happened on the anniversary of Kyuubi's defeat only made matters worse. Yeah, Naruto had picked a fine day to lash out and defend himself and the old Hokage knew that an awful lot of people would be demanding Naruto's head as they feared that they would be next. He also knew that it would be increasingly difficult for Naruto to keep his vow, especially since he had decided to become a shinobi, as killing was part of a shinobi's job. At least the shinobi of Konoha exercised the rule of only kill as a last resort and only kill those you need to kill. Wasn't always possible, but at least they made an effort to minimise innocent fatalities unlike other Hidden Villages in other nations, though Hiruzen knew from experience how hard it was for a shinobi to hold back, especially in a fight for survival and getting caught up in the moment was commonplace when dealing with enemy ninja that you were ordered to capture, not kill. However, he cast all those thoughts aside and gave Inu a serious look.

"Hokage-sama?" Inu said as he looked at the old man curiously.

"Kakashi, I feel that I must discuss Naruto with you," Hiruzen said, placing his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands underneath his chin, which he rested on top of his hands, "I fear that the next few days are going to be trouble for him."

Inu or Kakashi he was called while off duty put his hand over his mask and removed it, revealing his face. The lower was covered in a black mask that covered his nose and mouth and looked as if it was part of his shirt as it was made from the same material. He also wore a black hitai-ate that ran diagonally over the top part of his face, covering his left eye and in the grey metal part of the hitai-ate was the village's insignia, a diagonal straight line that moved from right to left downwards at the top right hand side that almost immediately went into a spiral pattern and a point like an arrow pointing in a diagonal direction downwards at the bottom left hand side.

"Is this about the incident earlier?" Kakashi asked curiously as he stared at his superior with a questioning look on his face.

Hiruzen lifted his chin off his clasped hands and nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately, I fear that it's going to send ripples throughout the village and unfortunately the villagers' attacks on him will only increase in future, since today's also the anniversary of the Yondaime's death and the Kyuubi's defeat."

Kakashi nodded with a sigh. He had been one of the Yondaime's students back when the Yondaime was a jonin and he was also one of the few people who knew the truth about Naruto's parents. He knew that Naruto was his former sensei's son. Naruto was like a miniature version of the Yondaime, at least in appearance. How the villagers didn't make that connection was beyond him, though he suspected that many had made that connection and since many of them believed that Naruto was the Kyuubi's human form, he wouldn't be surprised if they believed that Kyuubi had chosen to take on a human form that resembled their beloved Yondaime just to mock them. It disgusted Kakashi to no end how ignorant and delusional the people of Konoha were. He let out a dissatisfied growl as he thought about it.

"Minato-sensei, did you save the village just so they could take their anger out on your son?" he said aloud as he clenched his fists and Hiruzen saw the anger within Kakashi's visible onyx black eye, "What sort of father are you? Many people lost loved ones as well as their homes and you believed that they'd respect your dying wish to see your son as their hero when he contains the one responsible for their suffering? You should've just let the village burn and fled with Naruto and Kushina-san."

"Kakashi, don't blame Minato for what happened," Hiruzen said in a pleading tone as he knew that Kakashi blamed his former sensei for Naruto's hellish life, "As you already know, he wouldn't abandon the village for anything, even if he did foresee the kind of life his son would be subjected to. Understand that he was a kind and caring man who would do anything to protect all that he cared for and he just couldn't bring himself to seal the Kyuubi in a random child if he wasn't prepared to sacrifice his own child."

"I know," Kakashi said with a frustrated sigh as he calmed down, "But still…"

He had to admit that there was truth in the old man's words. He remembered during the attack that his sensei's best friend offered his own child in Naruto's place, but Minato had denied his request, saying that if he couldn't bring himself to use his own son, then it label him a hypocrite in all he stood for. Unfortunately, the man had died during the attack, which meant he couldn't take Naruto in and unfortunately, his widow sided with the villagers in their quest to eradicate the "demon brat".

"Kakashi, I know that you're upset about Naruto's predicament and perhaps having someone to blame seemingly makes it easier, but it's not going to help anyone. Unfortunately, the villagers are too blinded by their anger and hatred to realise that."

"Yeah, they know that Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed away in him and they use him as a perfect scapegoat," Kakashi remarked bitterly.

Hiruzen nodded with a depressing sigh.

"However, if you're implying that Minato lacked foresight then you're right," he said as he turned to look up at Kakashi, "They don't understand the truth and humans have always feared what they don't understand. The Kyuubi killed a lot of people before Minato sealed it away and it was his dying wish that Naruto be seen as a hero, but human nature being what it is caused the villagers to dishonour this request, many claimed that it was an outright lie and some kind of trick by the Kyuubi made to fool them into harbouring it until its power was restored."

Kakashi nodded with a growl.

"Anyway Kakashi, I've decided to give you a mission concerning Naruto to help get him through the next couple of days," Hiruzen said as he remembered why he called Kakashi into his office.

"A mission concerning Naruto?" Kakashi said as he stared at the Sandaime with a curious and questioning look on his face.

Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes, when he was in here earlier, he expressed a desire to become a ninja," Hiruzen explained as he gave Kakashi a look that said "You don't have a choice in this", "He also made a vow never to kill again unless absolutely necessary, but I know him. He'd rather not kill at all, even if there was no other option."

"And the village call him a monster?" Kakashi said as a humourless joke only to be silenced by a glare from Hiruzen.

"Someday, I know that he'll be forced to break that vow and I'm not sure if he'll have the courage to do it," he went on without commenting Kakashi on his "joke", "Your mission Kakashi will be to train Naruto in the ways of the shinobi and help him overcome this fear of killing and the reason I'm asking you this is because I don't trust those senseis at the academy, especially that new one, Mizuki. I don't trust them at all with Naruto's education. They'd no doubt do everything in their power to sabotage his progress or perhaps have one of the other students kill him under the cover of a sparring accident. So, I'm intrusting his education to you, though he still will attend the academy and will report back to you on what his senseis have taught him and you will correct the errors in those teachings."

"But Hokage-sama, why me?" Kakashi said with a surprised look on his face, as if he couldn't believe what was happening.

"Because Kakashi, aside from Umino Iruka, who's also new as an academy sensei, you're the only one I trust with him," Hiruzen said as he gave Kakashi a "Refuse and you'll regret it" stare, "However, Iruka will be too busy to teach him anything. Besides, you're his father's student. Don't you think that you'll be doing your sensei proud by helping out his son? If Minato knew the treatment his son was getting, no doubt he'll be weeping in his grave or from within the Shinigami's belly. I've already informed your superiors in the ANBU that you'll be taking extended leave for a few years."

Kakashi thought about it for a few minutes as he assumed a thinking pose (the same one he took when he first met Team 7) and then after a long silence, he nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it, I'll train him if that's what you want," he said as he gave the Sandaime a look that told him that there were conditions attached. "However, I'll only teach him what's taught at the academy and nothing else. I won't teach him any jutsu other than those that are taught at the academy. He'll have to learn new jutsu like elemental jutsus on his own."

"Understood Kakashi," Hiruzen said with a nod, "I was about to tell you that anyway, not to teach him anything other than what's taught at the academy."

Kakashi then bowed and then turned to leave the office.

* * *

**Glossary**

Inu – dog (also Kakashi's ANBU codename as he wears a dog mask)

Hai – Yes

Jiji – Old man (also a suffix i.e. Hokage-jiji – Old Man Hokage)

Hitai-ate – Forehead Protector (acts as a means of identifying which hidden village a shinobi's from)

Ninjato – ANBU issued katana

Kunai – A small knife with a diamond-shaped blade, handle and ring at the bottom of the handle ninjas normally use for melee or ranged combat

Shuriken – Sharp four-pronged metal stars that ninjas normally use for throwing and can prove deadly if used correctly

Nidaime – Second

Jutsu – Technique (i.e. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique)

Jinchuriki – Power of Human Sacrifice

Kami – God (also associated with divine deities)

Shinigami – Death God

San – Most common suffix used at the end of someone's name which could mean Mr or Mrs and is a title of respect and can also be employed in a variety of different ways.

Chan – Used as a suffix at the end of someone's name and can have a variety of different meanings. One such meaning is the same as the "Kun" suffix when addressing females, though it can be used as a suffix for males as well. However, it's usually used for babies or young girls. Can also be used for cute animal (i.e. neko-chan – cute cat), lovers and very close friends regardless of gender.

Sensei – Teacher (also used as a suffix at the end of a person's name when someone is addressing a teacher, doctor or other authority figures)

Sama – A more respective suffix than the "San" suffix used at the end of someone's name when they're being addressed by someone much lower in rank than they are (English translations normally use Lord/Lady or Master/Mistress whenever they come across this suffix.)

* * *

**Author's notes **– That's another chapter done and it's a bit longer than I thought and I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed at the number of reviews my first chapter got; only two. I'm hoping that this chapter will get more reviews. By the way, I've corrected most of, if not all the spelling errors I made in chapter one. The description of the ANBU uniform, I got from the Narutopedia Wiki site and I'll be using Narutopedia as well as watch the anime to get the information I need. I have to say that my Japanese is terrible and it's only through watching anime in Japanese with English subtitles that I've managed to pick on what certain words mean (i.e. Nani means What in Japanese and Hai means Yes or Yes sir) Also I got the information about the Japanese honorifics from Wikipedia. Also, I know that this fic may be starting of slow, but give it a chance. If all goes to plan, I'll be entering canon territory (when the manga and anime start) by about chapter six, seven or eight. To anyone who believes that the mysterious woman is Kushina, Naruto. I'm afraid you're wrong, it's not Kushina. It you read chapter one, it states that the woman was looking after her six-month-old child during the Kyuubi's attack. The next three chapters will have Naruto meeting the three girls I plan on pairing him up with, as you already know as being Sakura, Ino and Hinata and maybe I'll dedicate one or two chapters to their interactions with Naruto before going into canon territory.


	3. Forehead Girl, Haruno Sakura

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 3 – Forehead Girl, Haruno Sakura**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

**Six months later**

Uzumaki Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha feeling rather content with himself, despite the glares he was receiving as he walked by the villagers. Six moths had passed since that horrible incident on 10th October where he had been forced to kill that man in self defence and just as the Sandaime had predicated, the incident sent shockwaves throughout the village and the villagers had been after his head more than ever for the next two months until the Sandaime had managed to calm them down when he had gathered the villagers outside the Hokage Tower and explained how it was only an act of self-defence. Needless to say, this didn't sit well with the villagers; especially those who had been there that day as part of the crowd that had chased him. It certainly didn't help Naruto as far as earning the village's acceptance and respect went. Even if they knew what really happened, it didn't matter to the villagers. Since Naruto was the demon container, they felt that he had no right to defend himself and should just die. However, since then, Naruto had started sending the villagers' glares whenever he felt that they were moving in to attack him and had gotten ready to defend himself as he remembered the Sandaime's lecture and it usually scared them off, but a few brave people did attack him and he did defend himself, though his efforts were mostly futile, but at least his attackers didn't get away unscathed and the ANBU or some regular ninja would always break up the fighting before it turned ugly, especially Kakashi.

Also since that day when he killed the man and had a lecture with the Sandaime, Naruto had been taken under the wing of Hatake Kakashi, whom he learned was Inu's real name and that Inu was just a codename he used while on duty as part of the ANBU. Kakashi had helped train Naruto in the ways of the shinobi, though he still attended the academy. However, Kakashi had explained to him that the Sandaime had told him that he felt that the academy senseis were intentionally sabotaging his education and that Naruto was to tell him what he was supposed to be taught so he could correct the teachings that the senseis gave him, which he did.

Naruto's life in the academy was no different than life out on the streets. None of the other students spoke to him and it was clear that the senseis, with the exception of Umino Iruka hated him as much as the villagers did. They paid little attention to him and whenever he asked to have something explained to him in a simpler explanation, they would always berate and yell at him, telling him to go stand in a corner or go wait outside so he could be "punished" for "misbehaviour". It was no better with written tests. Naruto had always found the questions too hard and were clearly beyond someone with his age group's capabilities to answer. He had once tried looking at the test paper of the person sitting next to him to try an copy off him, but to his surprise and shock, it was a different paper with questions that he could easily answer… well most of them. Sure, there were a few questions he couldn't answer even on the correct test paper, but the fact was that he had intentionally been given the wrong paper to ensure that he failed and whenever he did manage to successfully answer even one of the questions on the blue on a blue moon occasions, the sensei would immediately accuse him of cheating with some lame excuse to justify his accusation. Naruto had originally thought that he was given the wrong paper by mistake, but from the way the sensei had verbally lashed out at him. It was clear that they were doing it intentionally.

With Kakashi's training however, Naruto was getting better and the senseis at the academy were finding it increasingly difficult to fail him, as he was also becoming braver and Kakashi helped him with his knowledge, which caused him to answer the advanced questions easily and when accused of cheating, Naruto bravely demanded that they prove it and much to their displeasure, they found that they couldn't and had no choice but to pass him. The same was true in the practical side of the training. Naruto's jutsu was greatly improving and the frustrated senseis had no choice but to pass him. Sure they could just fail him anyway, but the problem was that the Hokage had been made aware of Naruto's improvement and the senseis were smart enough to know that failing Naruto regardless of his performance would bring the Sandaime's wrath upon them and that was something they feared immensely. Despite the Sandaime's old age and the fact that he was nowhere near as powerful as he was in his prime, he could still take down chunin level ninja, which was the rank of an academy sensei.

Kakashi's training also made it easier to ward off would-be attackers, though true to his word, he never killed any of them whenever he beat them. He would just walk away giving the person a threat to never attack him again or else. This led to a very small minority of the villagers starting to rethink their views of Naruto, though they were still wary of him and the majority of the village were still out for his blood. The small minority that were rethinking their views of Naruto weren't prepared to let go of their original views, but with their re-evaluations, they were starting to at the very least tolerate him, though should something happen that would seemingly prove everyone right, they would immediately rejoin the majority in wanting him dead.

It wasn't much, but it was a start, though Naruto was aware that it was pretty fragile and even the smallest of incidents could break it, like pranks, which he still used as his means of revenge. However with his constant refusal to kill and his revenge pranks, the small minority was both gaining and losing members and was never really getting any bigger.

Naruto was currently on his way home from the academy. Kakashi had given him the day off since the situation at the academy had reached the point where most of the senseis felt that it was pointless to try and sabotage Naruto's education as they had learned that he'd figure it out, though Kakashi still trained Naruto just in case, as he knew the sensei's still hated Naruto and he wouldn't put it past them to investigate how Naruto was overcoming the flaws in the training that they intentionally gave him and if they discovered that Naruto's secret training had stopped, they'd immediately go back to sabotaging his lessons as well as a few senseis still tried their hand at sabotage regardless.

Anyway, Naruto was content with himself. Things weren't looking up as much as he'd like them to, but it was a start. He ignored the glares and whispers the people he passed by gave him. His big smile seemed to only fuel the villagers' hate as it was something they were not used to and they were a bit afraid that the "demon" was close to having its power restored and from Naruto's actions after that 10th October; they believed that that only confirmed their fears.

"Disgusting vermin," Naruto heard a woman say, "Go back to Hell where you belong."

He then noticed a projectile hurling towards him out of the corner of his eye and quickly raised his hand and caught it before looking in the direction it had come from to find a woman with an outstretched hand looking at him with an expression of shock and fear. He then brought his hand in front of his face and studied the projectile that the woman had thrown at him and shook his head. It was nothing more than an apple; painful if it had hit, yes, but nothing lethal.

"Right back at you," he said as he brought his hand up and pulled it back before launching it forward and releasing the apple, which caused it to hurl towards the woman at near impossible speed.

Luckily for the woman, the apple just narrowly missed her head by a few centimetres and slammed into the wall of the building behind her, causing a crack in the wall and the apple itself exploded before falling to the ground in pieces.

"Be glad that wasn't your head," Naruto said in a serious tone as he backed it up with a hard stare, "I don't kill people, but next time you decide to try something like that… well let's just say you'll be seeing death as more of a generosity compared to what I'll do to you."

He then turned and walked away, his good mood darkened as the woman just stared at the pieces of apple on the ground with a shocked look on her face as she realised that Naruto had missed her on purpose and that if the apple had hit her at the speed it was travelling when Naruto threw it, she'd probably be dead.

* * *

Seven-year-old Haruno Sakura was walking along the pathway in Konoha Park admiring the scenery. It was a beautiful day today. The sun was shining brightly down on the village, highlighting its buildings in a beautiful golden glow and there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky anywhere. It was warm with a soft breeze that cooled the temperature down a bit and Sakura watched as a bluebird returned to its nest in a nearby tree with food for its chicks. Butterflies hovered around the flowers and there was something about the peace and tranquillity that made the pink haired girl feel at ease.

Unfortunately, she was also a bit disappointed. Yamanaka Ino, her best friend couldn't come out and join her today as she was currently experiencing a really bad cold, which was unfortunate. Ino was part of the Yamanaka Clan, whose main jutsu revolved around getting into their opponents' minds and using it for spying or to get their enemies to turn on their allies or cause harm to themselves. The Yamanaka Clan's jutsu also allowed them to enter another person's mind and have access to the person's memories, thoughts, personality and so on. A Yamanaka could find out everything there was to know about a person just by going into that person's mind, which would make the Yamanaka Clan excellent psychiatrists.

However, the Yamanaka Clan were into botany and they owned a flower shop in the village. Sakura had been hoping that Ino would help her in their flower arranging assignment that they had gotten from the academy. Since Ino's clan owned a flower shop, Ino was somewhat of an expert on flowers and Sakura… well she was just clueless about the whole thing. In the classes with Suzume-sensei, Sakura always had Ino to guide her, but now that Suzume-sensei had given the class an assignment to go off and do flower arranging on their own as a homework assignment, Sakura found herself struggling. Everything Ino told her seemed to just vanish from her head. She had tried arranging flowers on her own, but the end result was downright terrible and very off-putting for anyone being offered that particular bouquet. Her mother had said so, though she had told her in a polite manner.

Sakura sighed as she shook her head. She just wasn't good at anything like Ino was. One of Sakura's main down points was her lack of confidence and self-esteem. Before she met Ino, she was the constant target of bullies because of the fact that she had a wider than average forehead, so she used her bangs to try and hide it, but it only served to make things worse and add fuel to the fire. Because of that, she was mostly alone and constantly crying because of her loneliness. However, one day, Ino found her crying sitting on one of the pathways in the park after some girls had another session of poking fun at her forehead. Sakura remembered how Ino befriended her and told her what the problem was and the next day, she had given her a red ribbon for her to wear on her head to divert attention away from her forehead. Ino then introduced her to her friends and none of them made fun of her forehead and whenever bullies approached her, Ino would deal with them. That had been the start of their friendship. Sakura really admired her best friend. Ino was popular, confident and so sure of herself; everything Sakura wanted to be. However, all the taunting and poking at her forehead had severely crushed her confidence long ago and unfortunately, without Ino; Sakura didn't feel as brave as she did whenever Ino was around.

"Well, well," a voice came, causing Sakura to cringe as she stopped and slowly and hesitantly turned around as if fearing who was behind her and hoping that she was mistaken.

"Still strutting around like you're some big shot," the voice continued tauntingly in a boastful tone.

"Ami," Sakura said fearfully as she laid eyes on three girls who had clearly been following her and backed away as she looked into the eyes of the girl in the middle and started sweating.

Fear quickly overcame her as she recognised those three girls. Her breathing became heavier as she frantically searched for a means of escape. Of all the days those three had to bother her, it had to be a day in which Ino wasn't there to stand up for her.

The girl in the middle; Ami just smirked at witnessing Sakura's reaction as she looked around as if to see if anyone was around and when she saw that there wasn't, her smirk widened into an evil grin.

"Not so tough without Ino backing you up, eh Billboard Brow?" she said in a gentle voice, but laced with a cruel arrogant tone.

Sakura clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, wanting Ami and her lackeys to go away and hoping that it was just some cruel nightmare.

Unfortunately for her, this was real and Ami slowly walked round Sakura till she was behind her, blocking off her escape as her two lackeys stayed where they were, blocking off Sakura's retreat.

Ami had long purple hair with cruel brownish purple eyes filled with nothing but cruel pleasure at Sakura's predicament. She wore black sandal, a red skirt and a white shirt with a blue cardigan over it and she stared at Sakura, giving her a mocking look as if to say, "What're you gonna do now?"

Sakura gulped as she opened her eyes and to her displeasure, her main antagonist was still there with her two lackeys mocking her feelings of helplessness.

"Leave me alone," Sakura croaked as she attempted to gather what courage she could muster, but Ami's sneer only served to smash what little confidence she had gathered.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, right girls?" Ami replied as she looked towards her two friends who just nodded in agreement, "You see, it seems that you're forgetting your place. You really think you're something special when you're not and to tell you the truth it's pissing me off. We're going to put you right back in your place where you belong you big-headed little freak."

Sakura continued to stare at Ami, frightened at what the cruel girl had planned for her and her fear only increased as Ami let out a cruel laugh as she eyed the ribbon tied on top of Sakura's head.

Out of all the bullies who had picked on Sakura because of her forehead, Ami was by far the worst. She had been the one to start it all off and the others just followed her example. However, most of the bullies had given up once Ino entered the picture. However, Ami was persistent and constantly went out of her way to make Sakura's life miserable as if it was her life's mission. She didn't know why, but she really couldn't stand Sakura. Maybe it was her big forehead or her pink hair, Ami didn't know, but she would always make Sakura feel bad whenever she saw her. Besides, she found it fun and it gave her and her friends a good laugh and she'd be damned if she was going to let some Little Miss Popular wannabe as she saw Ino get in her way.

"And what do we have here?" she said her hand grabbed the ribbon and violently yanked it off Sakura's head.

* * *

Naruto was currently walking in Konoha Park. The woman's attack earlier had darkened his mood and he had altered his course so he could clear his head. His thoughts were currently on what they were always on; why was he so hated in the village? What was it about him that made others hate him so much? It was like they hated him just for existing and from what he heard the villagers say whenever they tried to kill him, it seemed that that was exactly the reason. However, Naruto was smart enough to know that it wasn't just that. He knew that there was more to it than that. People just don't hate others just because they exist. There was something else going on and Naruto found himself a bit afraid of finding the answer. He wanted to know why everyone hated him and yet, he was afraid of discovering it… afraid of what it could mean for him. He had this increasing feeling in the pit of his stomach that when he did discover the truth, he would not like the answer. However, he knew that he had to know, but at the same time, he didn't want to know since he feared of what would happen to him.

"Hey, give that back," a girl's voice came, causing Naruto to come out of his thoughts and back to reality.

He looked off to his left and saw a pink haired girl reaching up to try and grab a red ribbon held up high by a purple haired girl. He noticed another two girls standing behind the pink haired girl with cruel smiles on their faces. Naruto recognised the kind of smile as he had seen that kind of smile on the faces of the villagers whenever they hurt him or managed to cause him misfortunate. The owner of the General Store had a similar smile when he had demanded an even higher price for the pen Naruto wanted when Naruto had given his the amount he had originally asked and seeing that sort of smile on those girls' faces while they watched the pink haired girl struggle to obviously reclaim her ribbon from the purple haired girl infuriated him. It was not him that was the target this time, but it infuriated him nonetheless. Just what had that girl done to deserve such treatment? It reminded him of himself and how the villagers tried to kill him. The pink haired girl was in the same position he had constantly been in for most of his life, though he was sure that the three other girls weren't looking to kill her. However, that did nothing to sooth Naruto's increasing fury.

The purple haired girl violently grabbed the pink haired girl's face with her free hand and then violently shoved her to the ground, causing her to land on her butt and Naruto's fury only increased as he saw tears well up in the girl's jade green eyes and started crying and the three other girls just laughed at their victim's misfortunate.

"Maybe now you'll know your place you big-headed freak," the purple haired boasted in a cruel, almost sadistic tone, "Don't think that that overrated Miss "I'm so glamorous I can do anything" so-called beauty queen, Ino's gonna protect ya forever."

"W-why Ami?" the pink haired girl sniffed as she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her fingers, "W-what did I e-ever do to… do to y-you?"

"You were born and you entered my life," the purple haired girl, Ami said as her face twisted into an expression of pure anger and her tone became laced with hatred and venom and she balled her free hand into a fist and brought it back, ready to slam it into the pink haired girl's face.

That was all Naruto could stand. He had heard that kind of talk before, only it was directed at him and finding that he wasn't the only one who was hated just for their existence only served to infuriate him further. From what he could tell, this girl had done nothing wrong and those three were making her life a living hell just because they didn't like her. At least in her case they probably used the fact that their victim's forehead was wider than average as an excuse, Naruto figured. He had noticed the girl's forehead, but he didn't see that as a valid excuse for hating someone. The girl didn't ask to be born with a big forehead just like he didn't ask for whatever the reason was for the villagers hating him.

Ami brought the hand holding onto the ribbon down to her side and was about to launch her fist at her victim's face when Naruto quickly walked up to her and grabbed the ribbon and pulled it out of Ami's hand so fast that the material moving against Ami's skin caused her to feel a very painful burning sensation on the palm of her hand and her fingers.

"Huh?" Ami said as she felt the excruciating pain of the friction burn on her hand and took a step backwards and dropped her fist.

She then brought her sore hand up in front of her and saw a red mark on the palm and parts of her fingers that had been touching the ribbon.

"What the..?" she said as her face twisted in absolute fury as she noticed Naruto walking over to her victim and ignoring her like she wasn't even there.

"I believe this belongs to you," Naruto said as he held out the ribbon to the pink haired girl, who sniffed as she wiped the last of her tears away.

"W-who are you?" she asked, giving Naruto a confused and wary look.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said with a big fox like grin on his face, "And who might you be?"

"H-H-Haruno S-S-S akura," the girl stuttered as she hesitantly held out her hand and took the ribbon from Naruto.

"Haruno Sakura," Naruto said as his face took on a thoughtful expression, before turning to one of realisation a few seconds later "I remember you from the academy. I never actually met you, but I saw you around with that Yamanaka girl a few times."

Sakura looked at Naruto with a blank stare, blinking a few times as she absorbed what he just said.

"Hey," Ami's infuriated voice came, interrupting Sakura's thoughts, "Don't just ignore me."

"Hey, isn't that that boy that everyone hates so much," one of Ami's friends whispered to the other.

"Uh huh," the second girl said with a nod, "That's him."

The two girls looked at Naruto nervously as they felt a growing feeling of fear and dread well up in the pits of their stomachs. They were now unsure whether or not to continue with Ami's plan and they looked at their leader as if looking for answers. The plan was to rough Sakura up a bit and scare her. They never thought that anyone would intervene, never mind Naruto. Now that he had stepped in, they were wondering whether or not they should run. The adults had always said he was a demon and a monster. What would happen to them if they stayed? Would Naruto kill them, especially since they heard whispers about an incident six months ago in which it was said that he had killed someone?

However, Ami didn't seem to care as she seemed more furious than scared that Naruto had ruined her "fun".

Naruto turned to face her and stood between her and Sakura, glaring daggers at her. He then turned his head both ways and shot a glare at Ami's two lackeys behind him and Sakura as if to say, "Try anything and you're dead" and the two girls gulped, not wanting to take the chance that it was an empty threat since the look in Naruto's eye told them that he was very capable of carrying out and he would carry it out if they tried anything against Sakura.

"Get lost, this don't concern you," Ami said as she continued to glare at Naruto who turned back to face her and returned her glare with contempt and disgust in his eyes.

"Just what the heck's your deal with Sakura-chan?" he demanded through gritted teeth, "I may not know her, but from what I saw of her at the academy, she's a very nice person who wouldn't hurt a fly."

"That's none of your business whisker face, not beat it," Ami said, using the thumb of her left hand to point to the left as if showing him the way to go.

However, Naruto's glare only intensified and Ami suddenly found her resolve shaken somewhat. However, she just gulped and reasserted herself as she resumed glaring at Naruto.

"I don't like the way your treating her," Naruto growled, causing Ami to jerk back in fright, "I heard what you said and you hate her just because she's alive…? Why would anyone hate her for that?"

Ami growled as she tried reasserting herself once again. No way was she going to be scared off by the most hated person in the village. She knew who Naruto was and knew how the village seemed to just despise his very existence, not that she cared or anything. As long as Naruto didn't cross her, she saw no reason to seek him out unless he happened to come across her when she had nothing to do. She also heard the whispers about how he had killed someone six months previously during the anniversary festival of when the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi no Yoko, but she just passed those off as just pointless rumours the adults had thought up to further justify their hatred of him. Not that it mattered to Ami. She could care less about the reasons the adults had for hating Naruto. She would only deal with him if he ever crossed her path and that was that.

"Just look at her forehead," she said in response to Naruto's statement just to humour him and get him to shut up as she knew he wouldn't go away, "Look at the size of it."

Naruto turned his head and his eyes fell upon Sakura's large forehead as they scanned every inch of it as Sakura looked on in a mixture of wonder and fear; fear that Naruto would side with Ami in making her life miserable.

"Yeah, so?" he said, turning back to glare at Ami, "Her forehead is pretty big, but that's no reason to bully her. It's not her fault. She didn't ask to be born like that."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at hearing that as she felt relief wash over her, glad that Naruto wasn't going to judge her by the size of her forehead.

"Oh course you'd say that," Ami said in an unimpressed tone as she yawned and patted her open mouth with her fingers, "Takes a freak to know a freak. You're just as much of a freak as she is whisker face. I mean, what's with those whiskers anyway? Are you like part cat or something? I think you're just some monster that looks like a boy and Forehead Girl's the same. Freaks."

However, just as she finished talking, she suddenly found herself flying through the air before finally landing on the ground on her back with a really sore face. She looked up and saw Naruto with an outstretched fist glaring down at her with pure hate and contempt.

"AMI!" the two lackey girls screamed as they both rushed over to their fallen leader.

They both knelt down and tried to help her up, but Ami violently jerked her body away from them, feeling more humiliated than she ever felt in her entire life; even more humiliated than that time Ino threw flowers into her mouth and said they were poisonous, which caused her and her lackeys to run off to find Suzume.

"Don't touch me," Ami said in a dangerously low tone as she manoeuvred herself into a sitting position and glared up at Naruto, struggling to hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes and threatening to flow down her cheeks.

"Say that again!" Naruto said in a dangerously low tone as he took a step towards the three girls, causing two of them to back off, "Only this time, say it to my face!"

Ami flinched at the harshness in his tone as her two friends screamed and ran off, abandoning their leader.

"You…!" Ami said as she clenched her fists into the grass, severing several blades from their roots and she picked herself up and shot Naruto and Sakura both a venomous look of pure hate, "You'll regret this…!"

She then turned and stormed off in a rage leaving Naruto glaring at her back till she was out of sight.

Once she out of sight, Naruto turned to Sakura and held out his hand to help her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked staring at her with concern in his eyes.

Sakura blinked for a few seconds as she just stared up at Naruto with a look of wonder highlighting her face as if she were thinking whether or not to trust Naruto. After all, he did just rescue her from Ami when Ino was unable to because of her cold. She had overheard Ami's two lackeys talking earlier and she knew that there was a boy in the village that nobody seemed to like and tried to kill frequently because of it. She had no idea why the adults were so determined to kill him for no apparent reason. She had asked her mother about it, but she wouldn't give her a straight answer and just said it was because he should've never been born. Sakura had been persistent, but her mother had urged her to drop it and told her that she didn't need to know why. She had seen Naruto once or twice at the academy, but those had just been passing glances and she didn't think much of it back then.

However, now that he was here right here and now and knowing that he was the boy all the adults had told their children to stay away from, she was unsure what to think. Her mother had told her to stay away from him and that he was a demon and a monster and like before, when Sakura had persisted in finding out why her mother had said that, her mother had told her what she had told her about why he should never have been born; that she didn't need to know and again told her to drop it. Sakura had done so, though she had still been curious about it. Just what was so bad about this boy? What did he do to merit such hostility from the adults? Most of the other children just followed their elders' example and treated him just like the adults did believing that he was bad somehow, but Sakura started to wonder. Someone who had just saved her when she didn't ask his help couldn't be bad, could he?

"W-why did you save me?" Sakura asked as she slowly and hesitantly took Naruto's hand and he pulled her up, "A-are you really that boy… the one everyone hates?"

Naruto looked down at the ground as here let out a depressed groan and sighed.

"Uh huh," he said as he turned and was about to walk off, believing that Sakura was going to turn against him. Like all the other children he befriended in the past.

Sure, he did befriend some of the children, but they all abandoned him when their parents found out about their children's friendship with them. Sometimes, a child's mother or father would just walk up to them and drag their child away while glaring at him and telling their child not to go anywhere near him and that he would only lead them to an early demise and the children all believed what their parents told him. Naruto found himself envious of the other children. They all had parents and parents were supposed to set an example for their children to follow. Naruto wished he had parents and he often wondered what happened to his parents. Did they abandon him and join the rest of the village believing that bringing him into the world was a mistake? Did the village have a grudge against his family and murdered them leaving him alive and now the village were out to finish the job of eradicating the Uzumaki Family? Naruto honestly had no idea what the story was. However, what upset him was that the parents of his temporary friends all hated him and that was the example they set for their children and they just followed them without question. It angered him to no end that the children were so blind, but then again, just about all the villagers hated him. He figured that maybe the children were afraid that the villagers would turn on them just for being with him. He knew that Teuchi and Ayame suffered at the hands of the villagers just for their acceptance of him. The only reason neither of them were the targets of lynch mobs was because the Ichiraku Ramen Stand was the only ramen stand in the village and as much at they hated the owner and his daughter for their acceptance of Naruto, they enjoyed their ramen and weren't willing to risk losing the only ramen stand in the village just because of the management's acceptance of the "demon brat". Naruto figured that perhaps the children feared similar treatment, only they wouldn't be so lucky since they had nothing to protect themselves like Teuchi and Ayame did.

"W-wait," he heard Sakura say, causing him to stop and turn to face her curiously.

Sakura remained silent for a moment as she realised that she had no idea what she was going to say to him and then, at length, she let out a soft sigh.

"Thank you for saving me," she said as she gave Naruto an unsure stare, as if unsure whether to trust him or not, "But, I must know, why? Why did you save me?"

Naruto was silent for a moment as he stood there studying her face and he looked into her eyes and saw the uncertainty and confusion within them.

"Because Sakura-chan, those three girls reminded me of what everyone did to me my entire life," he replied with a sigh, shaking his head, "I hate that. It's not your fault your forehead's so big. It was how you were born and I doubt you can choose how to be born."

Sakura nodded and then gave Naruto an unsure stare.

"S-so you don't think my forehead m-make me u-ugly?" she asked hesitantly, "Mostly everyone aside from Ino-chan and her friend thinks so."

Naruto shook his head.

"No, I think you're beautiful and kinda cute," he said as he broke out in a fox like grin, "You just wouldn't be you without your big forehead. Don't let those girls get ya down. I think it highlights your beauty perfectly and I'm sure this Ino and her friends think so to."

She's cheeks turned a bit red as she blushed a bit.

"Th-thanks," she said softly before giving Naruto a questioning look, "So N-Naruto-k-kun, why does everyone hate you so much, I m-mean if you saved me, you can't be all bad, right?"

Naruto sighed as he looked away from Sakura and down at the ground, feeling depression set in. He then took a few steps away from Sakura and stopped just as Sakura opened her moth to speak. He then looked up at the sky and gave another sigh.

"I honestly don't know," he said in a in a sad dejected tone, "Everyone thinks I'm some kind of monster or demon and I don't remember doing anything to anyone. Like those three girls picking on you, it feels like everyone just hates me because I'm alive. They even said so a few times when they tried to kill me. I wish I knew why though. There has to be more to it than that, but no one will tell me why. They seem to think I already know."

He then turned back to face Sakura as he felt tears start to well up in his eyes and Sakura gasped when she looked into his eyes. She may not know how to read people by looking into their eyes as well as Naruto, but she could see the loneliness and sadness Naruto's eyes held. They weren't the eyes of a demonic monster like her mother and the rest of the village believed he was. They were the eyes of a lonely desperate boy in need of love and affection who had been denied everything that was good in life. She knew right there and then that the villagers were all wrong about Naruto. However, she doubted they'd listen to her. They all seemed so fixated on their views of him that they probably didn't care. It kind of reminded her of herself before she met Ino. Up until that point, she had been lonely because everyone would poke fun at her forehead. Only, the adults didn't join in and it was nowhere near the level that Naruto must've suffered, but Sakura knew what it felt like to be friendless and alone, though she didn't have to watch her back every second of the day. She knew that she probably would never understand the full extent of Naruto's pain and suffering, but she knew enough to know that they were similar; Sakura had her huge forehead and Naruto had… well Sakura didn't know what, but she knew that it was something that he had no control over and so she came to a decision.

"Naruto-kun," she said as she walked towards him and wrapped her arms round him once she reached him, "I-I'll be your friend."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he just stared at her with a look of astonishment and disbelief written all over his face.

"Y-y-you'll be m-my f-f-f-friend?" he said, unable to believe what he just heard as Sakura wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, you're no monster," she said as she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him right in the eye, "I may be seven-years-old, but I know that monsters never cry nor do they feel sadness nor sorrow. You're alone and I know it's not your fault. I can never understand what you've been through, but I understand what it's like to be alone and feel like everyone's against you. Before I met Ino-chan, everyone would make fun of my forehead because it was bigger than normal and like you said, I didn't ask for it to be like that, so in a small way, we're kinda similar."

"B-but the villagers might hurt you and try to kill you as well," Naruto said as he remembered Teuchi and Ayame and what some of their customers said to them after being served.

"_You demon lover,_"he remembered a man saying to Teuchi once he had finished eating, "_If it wasn't for this stand, you and that whore you call a daughter would be next to that "demon filth._"

Teuchi had just shrugged it off since he was used to it and had learned to ignore such insults. However, hearing those customers talk like that had taught Naruto one thing; that anyone who socialises with him will be in for the same treatment as him and it was the main reason he felt why the children who had become his temporary friends in the past had sided with their parents.

"I don't care," Sakura said with a determined look on her face and a hard look in her eyes that told Naruto that her mind would not be changed, "You need friends and even one friend is better than none. If I have to be treated the same as you, so be it. At least I know that everyone's wrong about you."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Naruto and Sakura, the woman from 10th October who had tried to incite hatred in Naruto watched the whole scene from atop a branch on a nearby tree with disapproval in her eyes. Her mood was sour and foul as she heard every word. Using the Kakuremino no Jutsu with a cloak the same colour and pattern as the tree, she was able to get close enough to hear without them realising she was there.

Six months ago, she had hoped to incite Naruto to hate the village so that he'd eventually become as much of a monster as the Kyuubi itself so that the Hokage and the few who didn't treat him like the plaque of the village to turn against him. Unfortunately, much to her fury, the old bastard of a Hokage had managed to steer Naruto from that path with his talk. Oh yes, she had overheard everything that was discussed between Naruto and the Sandaime. The old fool was growing senile in his old age. He had no idea that his office had been bugged, though she had to admit that she couldn't have done it alone and had enlisted help, but those fools were nothing to her other than mere pawns in her scheme to bring down the Kyuubi Container and even if the Sandaime did discover the bug in his office, their was no way they could trace it back to her. The help she had enlisted was from a group of separatists loyal to a man who had been at loggerheads with the Sandaime since the Nidaime was still in power and the Sandaime was well aware of this separatist faction's existence. The man in charge, a war hawk by the name of Danzo who was in charge of the ANBU ROOT division, which was officially disbanded, but secretly active, would get the blame. Not that she cared for the old one-eyed cripple. He may not be as senile as the Sandaime, but the woman had managed to dig up dirt on him that she could use to further exert her control over him should he discover that he was being used like a puppet. The woman's lips curled into a smile as she thought of the irony of it all. Danzo himself was a puppeteer, using others to further his own ambitions and yet, he was being used himself to further her own plans

"The puppeteer is a puppet himself," she thought with a smirk before coming back to reality and glared down at Naruto.

This was not supposed to happen. Naruto was not supposed to turn out like this. In the beginning, she had believed the Sandaime's talk to be a lost cause and believed that Naruto would give into temptation eventually even after making his vow never to kill again. After all, he was only human. Unfortunately, she had underestimated his willpower and resolve. He had come close in the past to killing s few people, but always managed to stop himself before the blow connected and it was causing a few people to rethink their views on him.

That didn't worry her though; they still didn't trust him and could easily be brought back into believing that he was the Kyuubi itself. His pranks were very good at that, but this… this could pose a problem in the future and make her plans more difficult. Sakura could see the truth; the woman could see that and she knew that all it would take was for one person to accept him and more could follow suit. Like a group of people who feared an enemy they clearly outnumbered; all it would take was for one person to stand up to the enemy and they could all stand up. This was similar only instead of driving an enemy out; they'd be accepting a lonely misunderstood boy with open arms. She knew that Sakura was brave and would stand by her pledge despite her apparent lack of confidence without her friend. The fact that Naruto and Sakura shared the experience of being alone due to things they had no control over seemed to have brought them together and increased Sakura's confidence dramatically.

Though the woman wouldn't kill Sakura outright. No, she could still push Naruto down the path she wanted him to take and maybe if she turned Sakura against him; the devastation he would no doubt feel from it would be enough to consume him with hate. He was only human after all and every human had their limit; some had greater limits than others. Why kill Sakura when she could be just as useful to her alive? Besides, how could she kill Sakura and get away with it?

Her plan had just become more complicated. She was sure that she could still pull it off, but this new factor just made things even more difficult.

"Damn it," she thought, clenching her fists as she looked up at the sky, "Even from beyond the grave you're still laughing in my face. Once that annoying brat's taken care of, all traces of you and your legacy will finally be out of my hair and then… we'll see who's laughing then."

* * *

Much later, after Sakura said goodbye to Naruto after they spent the day in the park together, she arrived home and immediately removed her sandals from her feet.

"Mom, I'm home," she said as she walked into the kitchen to see her mother, Haruno Fuhei preparing the dinner.

"Hello dear, how was your day?" Fuhei asked her daughter as she turned to face her daughter with a huge loving smile on her face.

"Fine kaa-chan, just fine," Sakura replied with a fake smile as she remembered that her mother was among those who wrongfully treated Naruto like he was some kind of monster.

Everything behind Sakura suddenly went black and a clone of Sakura that was all black with a white outline tracing her features, even those of her clothes appeared behind her. Written on this clone's forehead in white kanji letters were the word's "Inner Sakura" and she glared at the woman furiously.

"**Shannaro! How can you be so happy when Naruto-kun's suffering because of you and the rest of this village?**" the Inner Sakura said pointing at Fuhei.

Haruno Fuhei was basically a taller, much older version of her daughter as far as her appearance went, though she didn't have a wide forehead like her daughter had. She had long waist-length pink hair and sparkling big jade green eyes. She currently wore black sandals, red trousers, and a pink shirt with a red apron over the front of her body.

"Where were you by the way?" Fuhei inquired curiously as she gave her daughter a curious stare.

"In the park," Sakura answered truthfully as she averted her mother's gaze, causing Fuhei to eye her in surprise.

Sakura just couldn't bring herself to look at her mother at the moment. Spending time with Naruto and getting to know the real Naruto and not just what everyone said about him caused Sakura's respect for the village to drop significantly. Adults were supposed to set examples for children. Sakura knew that. However, from what she had learned from her time with Naruto, it seemed that the adults of this village were just teaching their children how to hate. She had always been somewhat smart for her age with an above average intelligence, though she wouldn't call herself a genius. That kid from the Nara Clan was smarter than her despite being lazy and only wanting to just lie back and watch clouds roll by every second of the day. Anyway, she knew that the children only hated Naruto because their parents hated him. The adults were infecting them with their hate and it sickened her that her mother was among those who partook in such behaviour.

"What's for dinner?" she asked, still refusing to meet her mother's gaze.

Fuhei studied her daughter, looking her over with a thoughtful expression on her face as she tried to figure her out.

"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked curiously with a hint of concern in her voice, "You don't seen too happy."

"I'm fine," Sakura replied, waving off her mother's question as she walked over to the table and took a seat, "So what's for dinner?"

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Fuhei asked in a slightly more serious tone with the concern more evident, "Did that Ami girl give you grief again?"

"Kaa-chan, just drop it, I don't want to talk about it," Sakura said, feeling slightly frustrated at her mother's persistence.

Fuhei then became even more concerned for her daughter. She knew fine well that Sakura suffered at the hands of bullies because of her huge forehead, especially that Ami girl who Fuhei knew was the worst of the lot. Fuhei swore that if Ami had done something to hurt her daughter in any way, she'd be having a chat with the purple haired girl's parents. She knew that Ino stood up for Sakura, but Ino was sick with a nasty cold and couldn't come to Sakura's defence this time.

"Sakura, tell me what's wrong, it's that Ami girl, isn't it?" she said as her face twisted with anger, furious at the thought that someone was out to ruin her baby's life just for something she had no control over.

"Just leave me alone," Sakura said in a bitter tone, giving her mother a harsh glare, "I don't want to talk about it."

"**Nor do I want to look at you, Shannaro!**" Inner Sakura added, putting in her two cents.

Fuhei's eyes widened in shock and she took a few steps back, taken aback by her daughter's tone and the look in her eyes directed at her. Fuhei had only one word to describe the look in her daughter's eyes; disgust. Her eyes narrowed as she regained her composure and stared at her daughter, all previous concern gone as she realised there was something else going on.

"Okay Sakura, enough's enough, what's really going on?" she said to her daughter in a demanding tone, "And don't give me that look young lady."

Sakura growled as she violently shook her head and she got up and made her way to the doorway, but Fuhei grabbed her wrist and spun her round till their eyes were locked with one another's.

"Sakura, you will tell me what's going on here!" her mother demanded with a hint of fury lacing her voice, "I am your mother and I don't deserve that kind of treatment from my daughter. What's made you so angry with me?"

Her tone became more calm and full of concern as she asked the last question.

Sakura just glared up at her mother right in the eye and let out a disgusted scoff.

"I think you know," she said in a tone of absolute revulsion before shaking her head.

"I think I…" Fuhei repeated before trailing off as her anger returned and she glared down at her daughter, "Tell me, I'm not sure what you mean."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura replied as she intensified her glare and her mother's eyes widened and her grip on her wrist slackened somewhat and Sakura violently jerked her arm out of her mother's hand.

Fuhei's hands immediately flew up to her open mouth as she gave her daughter a shocked stare. However, once she recovered from her initial shock, her facial expression twisted to one of anger and she glared furiously at her daughter, her eyes oozing out hate and disgust.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," she growled in a dangerously low tone, "What were you thinking, hanging out with him? He'll only lead you to your death."

"Says you," Sakura retorted was a furious glare of her own, "You're all wrong about him. He saved me from Ami when she was about to beat me up."

"He saved you from..?" Fuhei said, sounding genuinely surprised before she shook her head and reasserted her anger, "Don't let him fool you. He's just trying to trick you. He probably only did it to gain your trust so he can get close to you and then he'll kill you."

"You don't understand him, you don't know him," Sakura countered, furiously at hearing her mother's excuses, "All he wants is to be accepted and to have friends, but you and the rest of this village deny him that."

"WITH GOOD REASON!" Fuhei snapped loudly, before covering her mouth and her eyes widened in pure shock as she realised that she may have said too much.

"What reason?" Sakura demand, placing her hands on her hips as if trying to look brave, "Even he doesn't know why you all hate him so much. What did he do to deserve that kind of treatment?"

"He was born," Fuhei stated coldly after recovering from her shock.

"What?" Sakura said, shocked and disgusted at her mother's answer, "He was born? That's your reason? Not good enough. It's not his fault he was born. Maybe you should hate me because I have a big forehead."

"That's different!" Fuhei snapped in seething fury, furious at her daughter's persistence and also a bit fearful.

"How's it different?" Sakura demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

"It just is," Fuhei replied simply.

"Nonsense," Sakura said as she shook her head, "Just tell me why everyone hates him so much because I'm not going to abandon him, even if you disown me. I spent time with him and got to know a bit about him and he's sad; not the demon you all seem to portray him as."

"Sakura, that's enough!" Fuhei said in a furious tone, "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry, but I can't and if you continue to persist in finding out, I'll have no choice, but to kill you and believe me, that's something I don't want to do."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock at hearing this.

"Kill me…?" she gasped, shooting her mother a look of disbelief, "B-but why?"

Fuhei closed her eyes as her face took on a pained expression.

"Because it's something you and the other children are not supposed to know about," she replied with a sigh.

"I'm not supposed to know about?" Sakura said, her face twisting with anger, "Why?"

"That's none of your concern musume-chan," Fuhei stated serious with a look that said, "Don't argue with me".

Sakura glared into her mother's eyes for a few moments before she turned and stormed out the kitchen, leaving Fuhei, who just sighed as she shook her head, feeling depression set in as she slowly walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She then turned her head to look at the picture of a man with reddish brown hair and dark bluish green eyes sitting on top of the mantle piece at the far right hand wall of the room. The man also had a wide forehead much like Sakura's.

"Oh musume-chan," Fuhei thought as she shook her head as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "If only I could tell you the truth. If only I could tell you how that thing killed your father."

She continued to stare at the picture of the man who was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with a green vest over it and on each side of the vest's zipper was three compartments shaped as if they were pouches. He wore a dark blue hitai-ate round his neck as if it was a choker. He had his arms folded across his stomach was a cocky looking grin on his face.

"Takeshi-kun, just what would you have done?" Fuhei thought, looking at the picture of her late husband.

She wished she could tell her daughter the truth about Naruto, she really did, but unfortunately due to the Sandaime's decree, she couldn't. She wanted nothing more than to be honest with her daughter, but unfortunately she couldn't and she also fear that if Sakura dabbled in that subject, the Sandaime might order that Sakura be silenced if she discovered too much for fear that she might tell the other children. The Sandaime's decree never really covered the possibility that the children could become persistent in wanting to know why their parents felt the way they did about Naruto and Fuhei herself feared the Sandaime would order any children who were persistent to be eliminated to keep the truth from the younger generation. She knew the Sandaime's personality well and knew that he would probably not want to have such barbaric acts carried out, but unfortunately their were times when certain situations called for people to do things that would make everyone tremble in fear. It was something that the ninjas had to live with and the Hokage was a ninja himself. Fuhei found the decree rather foolish. It was supposed to give Naruto a chance at a normal life with the children, but the older generation easily found ways round that and were able to convince their children to side with them without really telling the truth since children normally followed their parents' example blindly and without question.

However, Sakura had started questioning her about it and unlike the other children, Sakura was more open minded and to Fuhei's horror, she had actually spent time with Naruto and she was convinced that he was a sad and lonely boy. Remembering Sakura's words caused the elder Haruno to snort. What did Sakura know? If only she knew the truth, she probably wouldn't be so quick to take his side. In Fuhei's mind, the "demon" was brainwashing her daughter, corrupting her very soul. She remembered Sakura mentioning about how she wouldn't change her mind even if she was disowned and that was something Fuhei could never bring herself to do no matter what. She had lost her husband to the Kyuubi and she couldn't bare the thought of being alone. Sakura was all she had left and she was going to fight to keep her, though for now, she'd just let Sakura have her way. Let her find out the hard way and she'd step in if her daughter was in danger. An evil grin suddenly appeared on her face. Sometimes people were so stubborn that they'd only change their mind through witnessing the person they were arguing with being proven right.

"I just hope it doesn't cost you your life my little musume-chan," she thought as her grin faltered as the fear that being proven right would cost her daughter her life, "Please be safe Sakura."

She then left the room and an astral form of her husband's face appeared in front of his picture and only frowned as if he were disappointed about his wife's behaviour.

* * *

**Glossary **

Chunin – Journeyman Ninja (mid-level ninja)

Kakuremino no Jutsu – Invisible Cloak Technique

Shannaro – No official translation, but translates into Damn it, Hell yeah or Yeah whenever Inner Sakura says it

Kaa-chan – Mother (the chan suffix probably means that the person saying it means mommy)

Musume-chan – Daughter (the chan suffix probably refers to the closeness of their relationship, though I'm unsure)

* * *

**Author's Notes **– That was longer than I had thought it'd be. I'm still not pleased about the review situation. Only one review last chapter, but I suppose it's better than nothing. I've fixed spelling mistakes I noticed in chapter two as well as updated the Glossary with words I mentioned in the chapter, but forgot to put in the Glossary, so that's sorted. Anyway, Naruto's met Sakura now and next chapter, it's Ino's turn and then Hinata. As for the naming of Sakura's mother, I originally thought up of the name, Fuhei (pronounced Foo-hay) when I was planning a Naruto/Bleach crossover fic in which Sakura would be the niece of Squad Nine's Lieutenant/Vice-captain (fukutaicho), Shuhei Hisagi (or Hisagi Shuhei since in Japan surname comes before your own name) and her mother was Shuhei's sister and the family had a thing for Ūhei, but that idea never really took off and I couldn't think up of a more suitable name for Sakura's mom, so I just stuck with Fuhei. I know progress may seem slow, but just give it a chance. By chapter eight/nine/ten, this fic will pick up and don't think that's the last of Ami either. I have plans for her.


	4. Popular Girl, Yamanaka Ino

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 4 – Popular Girl, Yamanaka Ino**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

**Two days later**

Six-year-old Yamanaka Ino was sitting on one the benches in Konoha Park as she listened to her best friend, Haruno Sakura recount how Ami and her lackeys ambushed her and how Uzumaki Naruto, the boy that the adults all seemed to hate and despise so much came to her rescue and how they became fast friends. Needless to say, Ino did not know what to think. She, herself didn't really think much of Naruto at all. Sure, she'd seen him a few times at the academy and around the village from time to time, but she never really socialised with him or spoke to him. Ino was one of the most popular girls in the village… or at least in the academy and she never thought anything much of Naruto other than that he was a constant troublemaker. She knew that he often pulled pranks on people and to be honest; she had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity to give him much thought other than the fact that he was nothing more than a major nuisance to everyone around him since she went with what all her friends had said when voicing their opinions about his pranks.

However, from what Sakura was telling her, she had to admit that it was surprising that the village nuisance had gone out of his way just to help Sakura when she was in distress. Ino had just recovered from a really bad cold that had kept her indoors and so, she could not be there to protect Sakura from Ami and her small band of merry followers. At first, Ino did not believe what Sakura had told her, but Sakura was persistent and she explained how she spent the rest of the day with Naruto and had gotten to know him.

"You got to know him?" she asked as she shot her friend a look of curiosity to which Sakura nodded.

"Uh huh," she replied with a nod, "He's really not that bad. He's just lonely and misunderstood. In fact, his situation's a bit similar to mine… you know since I have my large forehead and he… well not even he knows why everyone hates him."

"Isn't it because of all those pranks he pulls?" Ino asked with a confused look on her face, "I mean, you must've heard about all those pranks he pulls just to make everyone's lives miserable."

Sakura gave her friend a hard look and Ino couldn't help but notice the hint of disappointment and disgust in her eyes.

"Do you honestly believe that?" she asked in a serious tone laced with a hint of anger.

Ino's eyes widened at the look Sakura gave her and found herself taken aback at the harshness in her best friend's voice when she spoke. She realised then that Sakura was serious and that something must've happened between her and Naruto if she was willing to come to his defence, though she had no idea what. She knew that she had to watch how she phrased her next question, as the look she was receiving from Sakura told her that saying the wrong thing could end up ruining their friendship. After a few minutes of silence, Ino sighed and gave Sakura and honest look.

"What else could it be?" she asked, giving her friend a serious look, "I mean, he is a troublemaker. He let off a stink bomb in one of the stores last year."

Sakura remained silent, listening to this and then, at length, she sighed.

"So, you think that everyone wants to kill Naruto-kun just because of his pranks, is that it?" Sakura said as she her friend a disappointed glare.

Ino's eyes widened in total shock at what Sakura had just said.

"K-k-k-kill him, you're not serious, are you?" she said in total disbelief, "Please tell me you're joking."

Sakura shook her head and gave Ino a hard serious stare and backed it up with a harsh cold glare.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she asked with not even the slightest amount of humour in her voice.

Ino flinched at the harshness in her friend's tone and then gulped before letting Sakura continue.

"You're wrong you know," she went on, "Naruto-kun's lonely and in need of friends. Since as long as he could remember, everyone's hated him. The people have tried several times to kill him. He's been beaten almost to death, glared at; stores refuse to serve him and those few that do ask for a lot more money than the item costs. He told me that one time, this guy overcharged him and when he gave the amount the man asked for, the man just asked for more just so he couldn't get what he wanted.. I don't know why and neither does he, but the way this village hates him; it's like he killed someone. Do you honestly believe that pranks alone could make people hate you to the point where they'd want to kill you…? I don't think so. Sometimes, those assigned to protect him would join in with the villagers and those that didn't were too busy with other things."

Ino was speechless as she stared at Sakura with a look of shock and disbelief, unsure of what to say. Part of her refused to believe that was true. There was no way that someone as young as Naruto could be hated that much. What could a six-year-old have done to merit the hatred of his own people. She had just thought that the adults hated him for his pranks and apparently, so did her friends and she had listened to them as they gave their opinions about his pranks since some of them had been in the area of one of his pranks at the time he pulled it off. However, like Sakura had said, how could pranks alone cause so much hatred in anyone. To be honest with herself, Ino never really thought much of the consequences of Naruto's actions, nor did she think about what he did in his free time. She just couldn't believe that Naruto was the constant target of lynch mobs or the stores either overcharged him or refused to serve him outright.

Sakura nodded at seeing the look on her friend's face.

"Uh huh, now you get the picture," she said in a content tone, "Many children did make friends with him, but their parents told them not to play with him and so, they left him and did what they were told and none of them… at least as far as he knows asked why. When I asked my mom, she said she'd kill me if I tried to find out."

If possible, Ino's eyes became even wider as she heard this latest piece of news.

"Kaa-chan said that we're not supposed to know why," Sakura went on, taking note of Ino's shocked look, "She really hates him and I think she's only letting me be with him because she thinks that Naruto-kun will eventually prove her right."

Sakura growled as she remembered the confrontation with her mother two days ago. She was shocked and stunned to hear that the children weren't supposed to know about the reason why Naruto was so hated, but she was even more shocked that her mother had threatened to kill her if she persisted in finding out, though she could tell by her mother's fearful tone when she had said it that she didn't want to do it. Fuhei herself had said as much and Sakura knew that much to be the truth. It had only served to fuel her curiosity and make her desire to find out the truth about Naruto even stronger, but for now she decided to just lie back, fearful that her mother would make good on her threat if she discovered her.

"Your mom said she'd kill you?" Ino asked, giving Sakura "You can't be serious" look.

Sakura sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, though I don't think she wanted to," she replied with a serious look, "It was more like she felt that she would have to if I tried to find out."

Ino just gave Sakura a look of disbelief, clearly not believing everything she had just heard. However, she decided to just let it go for now.

"O-okay," she hesitantly said with a nod, "So now what Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked at her friend and then smiled.

"Well Ino-chan, I told Naruto-kun that I'd bring him to meet you," she said, letting out a soft giggle, "I'd like for us all to be friends."

Ino's eyes widened in surprise as she just stared at her friend.

"Y-you want him to meet me?" she asked simply.

"Uh huh," Sakura said with a nod before her face took on a pleading look, "Come on Ino-chan. He's not that bad once you get to know him. Naruto-kun's not that much of a troublemaker. It's just how he deals with his loneliness."

Ino thought about it for a moment. Should she really socialise with someone like Naruto? If asked before, she would have answered, no right off the bat. Being as popular as she was, someone like Naruto was pretty much considered as being beneath her and hanging out with those kinds of people could pretty much tarnish her well built-up image and ruin her reputation and Ino did value her image and reputation above everything else. She had been shocked that Sakura had even socialised with someone like that and had it not been for the fact that Naruto had saved Sakura from Ami, she would have urged Sakura to abandon him since she had always considered people like Naruto who were troublemakers as lowlife ruffians who deserved to sleep in dumpsters.

She then remembered how she had met Sakura. She had been on the way to meet up with her friends when she had heard someone crying and had gone to investigate and found Sakura sitting on one of the pathways in the park. Of course, she had heard of a girl with a big forehead before meeting Sakura through the local gossip that spread around among the children, but until she met Sakura, she never thought much of those gossipers. Again, she had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity to take notice. However, when she saw Sakura crying, she had immediately went over to her and enquired about her forehead, since she had heard that the girl with the big forehead had pink hair. As she had suspected, it was Sakura, but unlike Naruto, Sakura had done nothing to cause Ino to look down on her in the same manner she looked down on Naruto and she saw that Sakura was in need of help. So, the next day, Ino gave her the red ribbon that she currently had tied on the top of her head and brushed Sakura's bangs aside to expose her forehead since she knew that by trying to hide it, Sakura was only fuelling the flames and then she introduced Sakura to her friends who quickly took a liking to her and Ino had also stood up to bullies like Ami who still sought to make Sakura's life a living hell.

However, Naruto was different. Ino had always felt that he was nothing more than a prankster and a troublemaker that deserved everything he got and for the longest time, she believed that his pranks were the main reason that everyone hated him so much. However, if what Sakura said was true, it would mean that the adults all knew something about Naruto; something that they all hated. From what Sakura said, the adults had always hated him; even before he started pulling pranks. She had absolutely no idea that Naruto's everyday life was a constant struggle for survival. She could not image herself in that position; waking up and wondering if she was going to survive long enough to see tomorrow. What could Naruto possibly have done to deserve such cruel and barbaric behaviour? Part of her still refused to believe any of it, especially since, according to Sakura, the adults seemed determined to keep the truth from the children. It seemed too farfetched and too unreal to be true. However, for now, she decided to just go along with Sakura and then judge Naruto for herself when she met him.

"Okay Sakura-chan, if that's what you want," she said with a sigh before giving her friend a serious look, "However, if he causes trouble, that's it."

Sakura sighed as she nodded, feeling a bit deflated.

"Alright Ino-chan, fair enough," she said with a defeated sigh and hoped that Ino would let go of her prejudice of her newest friend.

It was probably just Ino's "Miss Popular" she figured. After all, Sakura knew more than anyone how much Ino valued her reputation and image and would probably have gone with the in-crowd just to hang onto it had it been anyone else who asked her or if she hadn't learned that Naruto had saved her best friend from her worst enemy. Ino was the sort of person who had a closed mind and took a lot of things for granted and built up opinions on people without getting to know them. Sakura knew that Ino would take one glance at a person and if he or she didn't meet a certain criteria, then she would immediately judge that person without a second thought. However, Ino had seen that Sakura was in need of help when she first saw her, so perhaps there was hope for Ino to change. Sakura remembered how during a class with Suzume-sensei, Ino had commented on how she was a bud that was yet to bloom into a flower and said how she had a lot of potential as a person. Normally, or at least in Sakura's mind, the popular people were too absorbed in their own glory to care about others. Ami was someone who was popular herself and she was too self-absorbed to worry or care about others, even her two lackeys who Sakura reckoned she only kept around to bolster her image. Ino however genuinely cared for her and she had acknowledged her despite her self-confidence being pathetic. Perhaps Ino could see past Naruto's annoying and carefree attitude just like she had seen past Sakura's big forehead.

* * *

**One day later**

Sakura was walking towards the park with a nervous Naruto following in tow. It was clear from Naruto's slow pace that he was fearful about meeting Ino. The glares both he and Sakura were receiving from passers by did little to boast his confidence. Sakura just returned the glares with one of her own while Naruto cringed. The fear of meeting someone new and then that person abandoning him was plaguing his mind. Sakura had wanted him to meet her best friend, Yamanaka Ino and though Naruto didn't really associate himself with her, he knew her by reputation at the academy and knew she was one of the most popular girls in the academy. Sakura had arranged this meeting and Naruto was at a loss for words. He didn't really picture one of the popular kids socialising with him. He felt that those kinds of people would always see his kind of people as being riffraff, ruffians and lowlifes that were far beneath their notice. His countless pranks and his seeming lack of respect for others definitely would be off-putting to someone like Ino. He was no fool when it came to popular people. In his mind, people like that valued themselves above everyone else and didn't care for the troubles of others. They used the people round about them to boast their image and make themselves look better than they actually were. One such person Naruto knew of was Uchiha Sasuke that Naruto knew to be so full of himself that he probably viewed himself as a god among men. Sasuke hailed from the Uchiha Clan, the most powerful clan in all of Konoha and he was pretty popular, especially among the academy's female student body. He was constantly hounded by those girls due to his clan's power and wealth and it didn't help matters that he excelled in everything he was given, scoring the highest marks in his class, which only served to inflate his already overinflated ego further. Sasuke was the number-one favourite to graduate as Rookie of the Year come his graduation.

Naruto growled just thinking about it. He and Sasuke never really got on that well. Sasuke constantly looked down on Naruto and belittled him on his lack of skills. Even after Naruto showed improvement due to Kakashi's training, Sasuke had just blown it off, saying that no matter how hard he'd try, he'd never reach his level. Of course, Sasuke didn't know about Naruto's sabotaged education, nor did he know that Naruto normally got tests that were beyond his ability to complete. However, since he started training with Kakashi, he could easily answer most of the test questions and he had been tempted to switch Sasuke's test paper with a more advanced one when the senseis weren't looking, but thought better of it. He knew that Sasuke thought too highly of himself and being from a clan as powerful as the Uchiha he probably had advanced knowledge, which would only bolster his ego further and even if he didn't, the senseis, who thought highly of him would find out about the switch and immediately know who was responsible and since they were out to get him, he knew that he would be playing right into their hands, plus if Sasuke knew that he was capable of something he wasn't, it would only serve to make him a target for Sasuke's aggressions since Naruto knew that people like Sasuke hated it when others did better than them, though Naruto still wanted to prove himself to Sasuke; that he was just as good, if not better than he was. However, for the moment, he'd just let Sasuke live out his fantasies. He didn't want a fight with Sasuke at the moment and would wait till such an opportunity arose in which he could fight Sasuke and beat him without being made to look the bad guy.

"Come on Naruto-kun," Sakura said, bringing him out of his thoughts, "You're getting slower and slower. In fact, if you go any slower, you'll be like a snail."

It was then that Naruto realised that Sakura was way ahead of him and he ran towards her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sakura-chan," he said rather hastily as he caught up with her, "I was just lost in thought."

Sakura sighed and she mentally winced. She knew that this would probably be difficult. Ino had made it quite clear that if Naruto caused trouble, then she'd forget the whole thing and Naruto was no doubt worried over the possibility that Ino would abandoned, not only him, but her as well. She knew that Naruto didn't want her to break off her friendship with Ino because of him, but Sakura vowed that she would stick by him no matter what. She knew that if he lost her as a friend, he wouldn't be able to cope with it since she knew the real him and not the reckless, uncaring troublemaker he portrayed himself as to hide his pain. It would destroy him and yet, he was willing to give his friendship with her up if it meant her breaking off her friendship with Ino; more proof that the adults were wrong about him since he put other people's needs before his own. In the short time Sakura had spent with him, she had learnt that underneath his "mask", he had a big heart and it touched her dearly in a way she never thought she could be touched. It really moved her that he was willing to make a sacrifice and deny himself what he wanted just to prevent the person he cared about from experiencing pain. However, Sakura would not let him do it. Two could play at that game. She was also willing to make a sacrifice for the benefit of a friend, even if it meant losing another in the process. Ino had plenty more friends she could hang out with, but Naruto had none. Losing the only friend he had, one who knew the real him would probably cause him to give up on life altogether. Come the next lynch mob; Naruto would probably just let them beat him to death and that frightened Sakura deeply. No way was she going to allow that to happen and she'd be damned if she'd let Ino talk her out of it. Anyway, Sakura resolved that they would wait and see how this meeting went before she did anything.

She let out a disgusted glare at passers by who glared at Naruto and her. That was another thing. Since people saw her with Naruto, they had started giving her the same kind of glares they had given Naruto and she had heard whispers between people, though she couldn't make out what they were saying, she did pick up on words like "demon slut" or something along the lines of "the demon's corrupted her", "why would she hang out with that thing?"… Stuff like that. In one case, someone actually attacked her, though Naruto had intervened before the man could hurt her and the would-be attacker ended up with a black eye.

* * *

**Two days ago**

_Naruto and Sakura were currently walking down the street on their way to the Ichiraku Ramen stand as many passers by just stared at the pair in shock. What shocked them was that the "demon brat" was not alone this time. He had a girl with him and this caused people to whisper among themselves as their surprise turned to glares directed at Naruto. _

"_I can't believe that that girl's hanging around with that thing," a man whispered to his wife, "She's got to be a slut to be going around with the likes of that thing. Demon slut."_

"_Hush, she's only a child," the man's wife whispered back, scolding her husband for making such a suggestion since she knew that Sakura didn't realise the truth, "She doesn't know what we know. If she did, I'd doubt she'd be with him at the moment. Remember the Hokage's decree."_

_The man just gave a groan of displeasure._

"_Yeah, yeah, I suppose you're right dear," he said as he turned to face Sakura, giving her a nasty glare, "But I still say she's a whore."_

"_It's probably just corrupted her soul," a third person said, voicing his opinion and joining the husband and wife's conversation, "Poor thing. I really wouldn't want to be that girl's father at the moment."_

_Sakura and Naruto continued on as the whispers continued and they both ignored them. Sakura had expected something like this to happen when she had befriended Naruto the previous day. She knew that she would probably be in for the same kind of treatment Naruto himself had suffered. Maybe that was one of the reasons all the other children went along with their parents. Perhaps they feared being treated the same way or having their parents disown them. It would make sense considering how deeply the adults hated him. The previous day, she had no idea of the depth of the hatred the adults held for him. She only had her mother's example, but Fuhei was just one person. It was only now, looking into the eyes of the villagers, she was beginning to understand the level of hate they held for him and no doubt, through socialising with him, she'll end up being regarded the same. However, that didn't bother her. Those people, as far as she was concern were ignorant and uncaring. They just could not see past whatever reason they had for hating him. They didn't know the real Naruto and from the looks of it, they weren't interested in getting to know Naruto at all, electing to just simply kill him and that would be the end of it. However, yesterday, she had gotten to know Naruto and she remembered that he had broken down a few times as he recited his experiences. She had seen that he was in desperate need of a friend and had decided that she would stand by him and take whatever treatment the villagers gave her. If she had to be the target of lynch mobs or be refused service or be overcharged in stores, so be it. At least Naruto would know that even though he still suffered, he would not suffer alone. She would stand by him till the end._

_However, she was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice a man running towards her, wielding a pitchfork with hate and rage burning in his eyes._

"_Those who side with the demon are traitors to this village!" he shouted as he lunged at Sakura, bringing his pitchfork back and ready to thrust it into the back of her neck._

_Sakura was immediately brought back to reality as she spun round and gasped, placing her hands over her mouth as the man, who was just a few feet away moved to thrust the pitchfork into her throat since she had turned around after he got her attention. However, before she knew what had happened, she noticed the pitchfork had stopped just a millimetre short of her throat and she noticed Naruto standing in front of her to her left with his right hand grasping the pitchfork and the man's face was pure white as he looked down at Naruto with horror evident in his eyes._

"_Sakura-chan, you might want to back away," Naruto said in a seriously hard tone without looking at her, his gaze still fixated on the man who had dared attack his friend; eyes filled with the same sort of hate and contempt the villagers had directed at him over the years. _

_Sakura did as she was told and took a few steps back as Naruto violently tugged the pitchfork towards him, causing the man to release it and then he threw it aside to his right, leaving the increasingly horrified man unarmed. _

"_If you want to pick a fight with me, fine, but I will not allow you to hurt my friend," Naruto said as he intensified his glare and took a step forward, causing the man to step back, "You all hate and despise me and for what, I don't know. Let's see how you like all that hate directed at you asshole." _

_Before the man could muster the courage to respond, Naruto lunged towards him, driving his fist into his stomach, causing the man to double over as he winced in pain. However, Naruto wasn't done yet and he jumped into the air, delivering an uppercut to the man's face. However, he then performed a spin till his back was facing the man and then he savagely slammed his elbow into the man's left eye socket and caused him to fly back a few feet till he landed on the ground on his butt in a humiliating fashion._

_The villagers who were all in the area all gasped at this as they witnessed the "demon brat" just take out a fully grown with apparent ease. Sakura was surprised and also relieved that Naruto had come to her rescue. However, she hadn't expected him to take the man out. He wasn't even a proper ninja yet. _

"_Unbelievable," she thought to herself, amazed at Naruto's strength, "Just how did he get so strong?"_

"_Seems Kakashi-sensei's training is paying off," Naruto thought to himself with a brief smirk before he resumed glaring at the still-dazed man. _

_The villagers in the area couldn't believe it either. Sure, they had heard that since that incident six months previously on 10__th__ October, Naruto had started fighting back, but none of them had been victims of his previous fights and they were the kind of people that refused to believe something unless they saw it with their own two eyes. However, now that they had witnessed Naruto in action first hand, they couldn't help but stare at him with fear and terror in their eyes. Were they next? Was he going to target them next to satisfy his anger? _

_However, Naruto just glared down at the fallen man who had dared attack his friend and noticed that the area round his left eye where he had elbowed him was coming out in a huge black bruise._

"_Okay, listen up you child-hurtin' piece of crap," Naruto said as he placed his foot on the man's chest and violently pushed his upper body to the ground, causing the man to take a lying position, "I'm only going to say this once and once only, so you'd better listen. The good news is that I won't kill you. The bad news is that if you try to hurt either me or Sakura-chan again, then the parts of your body you use to do so will not be touching anything ever again, got that?" _

_As he was talking, he had curling his finger on his right hand as if he was holding a sword by the hilt and then waved his arm in front on his in a diagonal line as if motioning a slash to emphasise his point. He then glared back down at the man who just nodded fearfully before Naruto turned back to Sakura, giving a glare to everyone else round about them, causing them all to back away with fear clearly written on their faces._

_The man who attacked Sakura just rolled over onto his front and picked himself up before running down the street in the direction he had came, forgetting to retrieve his pitchfork. _

* * *

**Present**

Sakura had been amazed at the fact that Naruto had not only beaten a grown man, but at the fact that he had chosen to defend her without a second thought, more proof that the adults were wrong about him. However, from the glares they both were getting, it was clear that none of the villagers had gotten the message, which infuriated her to no end. Were they so blinded by their anger that they couldn't see a good deed? Maybe it was because it had been Naruto, it didn't matter to them. A monster would not have saved her, even if she had been its friend. Monsters only looked out for themselves and would abandon their "friends" in order to save themselves or just let their associates die when they needed help. Naruto did not do that. He had intervened to defend her without hesitation and even threatened the man should he decide to attack her again. Her heart went out to him. That was twice he had saved her, this time, he had saved her life.

However, the villagers were so caught up in their hatred that they failed to see or recognise that act. As far as they were concerned, the "demon" had saved its associate and they didn't care one bit about the reason. Either they were clueless about how bad guys operated or they were just in denial, just refusing to accept the act as a good deed just because it was Naruto who saved someone who had clearly become his "accomplice". Whatever the reason they had for hating Naruto; it must run pretty deep if the villagers were in denial over him saving Sakura. She had seen many TV shows and movies in which the main antagonist cared little for his underlings and threw their lives away just to save himself/herself or didn't help them out when they needed it, considering them expendable. Naruto was the opposite of those villains. He had saved her when he could've just left her to die and Sakura knew that she would forever be indebted to him.

Anyway, they both finally arrived in Konoha Park and Naruto saw a girl with short blonde hair and big greenish aqua blue eyes sitting on one of the benches. She wore reddish brown sandals, dark brown trousers and an orange sweater with a dark brown strike running down the sides of the sleeves with a circle in the area between the shoulders and elbows with a kanji symbol in the symbol. She also had a green hairclip at the front on the left side of her forehead and wore two silver bracelets on her left arms and a dark wrist band on her right (Basically the outfit she wore in one of Ino and Sakura's flashbacks during the Sakura VS Ino fight in the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams).

Naruto recognised her immediately as Yamanaka Ino and his nervousness returned as he jumped behind Sakura for cover. He knew that Ino was popular and was fearful that she'd denounce him because of his many pranks. Popular people seemed to always have a habit of looking down on others, at least in Naruto's mind.

"Don't be shy Naruto-kun," Sakura said as she turned round and gave him a smile, "Don't be afraid to say hi."

"B-b-but what if she doesn't like me?" he replied nervously as Sakura saw the fear and uncertainty in his eyes.

There was that, Sakura knew. After all, in the past, Ino had always agreed with her friends whenever they voiced their opinions on something and no doubt she had built up a pretty bleak picture of Naruto as nothing more than a troublemaker and a ruffian who didn't care about anyone but himself. However, Sakura hoped that Ino would be as open-minded with Naruto as she had been with her. After all, someone that didn't just ignore her when she easily could have could not be bad, could they? With a sigh, Sakura was about to reply when Naruto's eyes widened causing Sakura to turn back round to see what was going on.

Ino had lifted her head and had noticed them and Naruto immediately bolted behind Sakura, hiding behind her.

"Hey Sakura-chan, so you showed up after all," Ino said as she stood up from the bench and started walking over to her best friend.

"Of course I did," Sakura replied, shaking her head, "I was the one who set this up, wasn't I?"

Ino nodded with a laugh before noticing Naruto hiding behind Sakura with his knees bend, his hands grasping the back on Sakura's sweater and was pushing his arms into the sides of his body in some feign attempt to become unnoticeable. It sort of reminded her of how Sakura had been when she had introduced her to her friends. Sakura had done the exact same thing, though this time, Sakura was the one who was introducing someone and the person was just as nervous as she had been when Ino introduced her.

"Well hello there," Ino greeted in a polite tone, "Sakura tells me that you saved her from Ami two days ago."

Naruto just brought up his head till his eyes were peeking over Sakura's shoulder.

"U-uh huh," he replied nervously before ducking back behind Sakura.

Sakura shook her head and took a massive sidestep, exposing Naruto to Ino, causing him to eep as desperately searched for a new hiding place. He was really afraid that Ino would not approve of him and despite what he told Sakura about ending their friendship so she could remain friends with Ino, he just couldn't cope with that possibility. After all this time, he had finally found someone who liked him for who he was and who didn't abandon him because of their parents' orders and he had never felt happier. It was a strange new experience for him, feeling happy and content, but now he feared that he'd have to give that up to preserve his friend's friendship with another person. No matter what he said to Sakura, he knew that he could never accept that, even though he would back down. If he lost Sakura, he knew that he wouldn't survive the next time the lynch mob came for him. He'd be too distraught and dispirited to fight back or run away and he'd be dead before the shinobi reached him.

Ino just stared at Naruto, studying his behaviour, which only served to increase his nervousness and fear. This was a different Naruto than the one she was used to. She had seen him a few times at the academy and he always seemed to be so carefree and mischievous; constantly pulling pranks and earning everyone's disapproval without a care in the world. However, seeing him now; she could se a very frightened boy who was trying to avoid her like she was some kind of disease or something.

"Don't be afraid, I don't bite," Ino said in a polite tone and enforced her tone with a smile.

"I think he believes you'll disapprove of him Ino-chan," Sakura spoke up, hoping to prevent a disaster.

As much as she didn't want to lose Ino as her friend, she knew that Naruto was in more need of a friend more than anyone else in the village. She just couldn't end her friendship with Naruto; not when she knew the real Naruto and how devastating it would be for him to lose the only friend he had. Sure, he had the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and his daughter and from what Sakura had seen of them, they were both quite nice people and perhaps the only two villagers who didn't go with the in-crowd and treat him like a disease. However, she knew that they were too busy with the stand to spend any time with Naruto and they couldn't compensate for her. She just knew that Naruto needed her and she wasn't going to abandon him, even if it meant giving up what she had with Ino.

Ino just stared for a few moments before turning to Naruto.

"Naruto, wasn't it?" she said with a smile, "There's no need to be afraid. I'm not going to yell at you."

"B-b-but m-my pranks," Naruto stuttered as Ino looked him right in the eyes and gasped at what she saw.

Like Sakura, she wasn't that good at reading people's emotions through their eyes, but she could clearly see the fear and uncertainty in Naruto's eyes and she could also see the years worth of pain within them. They were the eyes of a frightened, lonely boy who was now afraid of losing his only friend because he was afraid that his friend's friend would disapprove of him. This wasn't the loudmouth, troublemaking carefree prankster she had seen all those times at the academy and he definitely wasn't what all her friends said he was. How could someone like the person she had seen so many times pull off countless pranks with little or no regard for the consequences be so scared and afraid? She had to admit that had it been anyone other than Sakura who had told her about him, she would have no doubt scoffed and just waved it off. However, she felt that she had a special bond with Sakura and would do anything for her. In many ways, Naruto was acting a lot like Sakura in the first days of their friendship with one another.

"Calm down Naruto-kun," Sakura said to him, "Ino's not gonna bite you."

Naruto stopped and stared at Ino with uncertainty in his eyes and Ino, who stared right back in his eyes saw it. In many ways, he was like Sakura. She had been so uncertain about meeting new people and was afraid that they'd just poke fun of her forehead. Naruto may not have a huge forehead, but he definitely was afraid of her disapproval. However, thanks to Sakura, she had become a bit more open-minded and was taking in Naruto. Before she would have just blown him off and passed him by without so much as a second glance. It was because of Sakura that she was now seeing this and now that she had, she realised that she couldn't disapprove of him. From their talk the previous day, Ino had already guessed that Sakura would end their friendship if she did disapprove of him and she could see that Naruto would do the same with Sakura in an attempt to preserve her friendship with her. She didn't know how she had come to that conclusion, but somehow she just knew that Naruto would do that and given the look in his eyes, such an act would devastate him to no end and Ino knew that he would just give up on life. No matter what, she couldn't let that happen. She didn't think highly of him before, but even then she didn't want him to die.

"Get away from my daughter you little vermin," a new voice came, catching everyone's attention.

Ino let her eyes travel up from Naruto and gasped when she saw a woman walking towards Naruto at a quick pace.

"Kaa-chan," she said; surprise evident in her tone, "What are you doing here?"

Ino's mother, Yamanaka Shiori had long beautiful golden hair tied into a ponytail at the back by a purple ponytail band. Her eyes were a beautiful sparkling oceanic blue that seemed to twinkle in the sunlight. She wore black sandals, a long ankle-length light purple skirt and a white turtleneck shirt with a tinge of light purple decorated with beautiful stereotypical flower drawers that were different shades of purple and blue with yellow centres.

However, at the moment, her beautiful blue eyes were staring at Naruto full of fury, revulsion and hate as she advanced on him. Naruto backed away from the advancing woman and cringed at her hateful tone. Normally, he would have made a comeback or moved to defend himself, but since he was in the presence of the woman's daughter, whose approval he was seeking, he felt that he would destroy any chances of getting Ino's approval if he harmed her mother… that is, assuming that her mother hadn't already ruined his chances already.

However, Sakura walked up in front of him and glared the older woman down, causing her to stop her advance and stare at her daughter's best friend with a look of shock clearly written on her face as Ino looked on with a confused expression on her face, wondering why her mother was here.

"Back off Yamanaka-san," Sakura demanded in an aggressive warning tone, "Who do you think you are belittling Naruto-kun like that?"

She then intensified her glare with a stare that suggested that she was daring the older woman to challenge her.

For a moment, Shiori was speechless. She had no idea what to make of this startling development. Her daughter's best friend had just come to the "demon's" defence. It was definitely unexpected. She had initially thought that the "demon" had been harassing her daughter and her friend. She had been out for a walk to get some exercise had had just happened to come upon the scene and seeing that the "demon" was too close to her daughter and her best friend; she immediately decided to step in and take action. Sakura's defence of that "thing" had caught her off guard. However, she eventually managed to find her voice.

"Naruto-kun…?" she blurted out in a stunned tone before shaking her head and regaining her composure and glared back at Sakura, "Stand aside Sakura, you have no idea what you're doing."

Sakura just scoffed.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she repeated before shaking her head, "I know perfectly well what I'm doing Yamanaka-san. I'm defending a boy who's alone and misunderstood and you all seem to hate him and what him dead for no apparent reason other than the fact he exists. I know you feel you have your reasons, but whatever they are don't justify what you're doing since he's just as clueless as the rest of us children and I should point out that my kaa-chan told me that we're not supposed to know and even threatened to kill me if I tried finding out."

That speech stunned both Shiori and her daughter. Ino had heard Sakura talk about how the adults hated Naruto to the point of wanting him dead and even now, she was having a hard time believing it to be true. She had been too busy basking in the glory of her popularity that she hadn't even bothered looking into Naruto and why he was hated. She just waved the reason off as being his pranks without a care, not bothering to enquire about it and that was that. After all, why should she care about someone who, in her social group was considered far beneath her notice? She had seen Naruto as a nuisance and a pest that got everything he deserved. Heck, if not for Sakura befriending him, she wouldn't have even considered meeting him and had only went along with it for Sakura's sake, but what she had seen of Naruto so far since the meeting began and how he reacted, she was quickly coming to realise that her views on him were wrong.

"Is that true kaa-chan?" Ino asked, shooting her mother a serious look, "Does all the adults hate him so much they want him dead?"

Shiori was too stunned from Sakura's reply to her statement to reply and from the looks of it; she hadn't even heard her daughter speak. However, after a few moments, she shook her head and regained her composure.

"You dare defend that thing," Shiori said in an outraged tone as she glared at Sakura with a look of pure fury, "That thing isn't even human and you defend it?"

She then paused and let out a sigh as she calmed down a bit, but her anger was still present.

"I guess I can't really blame you," she said, shaking her head, "After all, you don't know the truth and if you did, I doubt you'd be so willing to take its side."

"Why does everyone hate him so much kaa-chan?" Ino asked as she stared at Naruto, giving him a sympathetic look.

Unfortunately, Shiori saw this and her temper flared.

"Don't give it that look Ino-chan!" she snapped, shooting Naruto a furious glare, "That thing doesn't deserve anything other than to be put to death."

Naruto cringed at the woman's harsh tone. It was nothing he hadn't heard before. The villagers often addressed him an "it" instead of a "him" like he was some kind of animal. What made this different was that this woman had every intention of ruining his chances at gaining a new friend and that upset him terribly and since this woman clearly knew Sakura, he had this growing fear that she'd take her away from him as well.

"Why do you call him it like he's an animal?" Ino asked as she gave her mother a demanding look, "All he wants is some friends. Even I can see that. He's lonely."

Any doubts Ino had that Sakura's story about Naruto being hated for his very existence had been squashed after listening to her mother. Now she was seeing first hand the hatred of the adults that Naruto had to deal with everyday and she could tell just by looking at Naruto that it was tearing him apart and looking into her mother's eyes, she could see nothing but rage, hate, disgust, revulsion and so many other hateful emotions. It was shocking to say the least. Her mother had even confirmed Sakura's story with her last statement. She now felt that she understood Naruto, even if just a tiny fraction. She understood that his attitude that she had seen so many times in the past whenever he pulled off a prank was nothing more than a façade, a mask he had put up to hide the fact that he was lonely and in pain. Ino wouldn't be surprised if she learned that he cried himself to sleep every night and he also feared that he may not live to see the next day. It was heartbreaking and what upset Ino the most was that her mother was one of the ones involved.

"He's a demon embodied as a boy," Shiori said in reply to her daughter's question, "That's all you need to know. Like Sakura said, you're not supposed to know."

"You're the monster," Sakura retorted with a furious outraged glare, "You and everyone else in this village. Can't you see what you're doing to him? I can relate to him since I was bullied for my big forehead. Everyone seemed to hate me because of my forehead and it hurt. I remember crying myself to sleep at night and I sometimes just cried out of the blue because I was so lonely. I didn't have anyone other than kaa-chan. Naruto-kun's situation is just a whole lot worse version of my own and you're wrong. He isn't a monster. He saved me from Ami three days ago and then, the next day, he saved my life when someone tried to kill me."

Ino's eyes widened at this.

"You never told me that," she said, looking at Sakura in shock; shocked that someone had tried to kill her best friend.

"Sorry Ino-chan, but I guess it slipped my mind," Sakura replied, giving her friend an apologetic look, "But yes, he did save my life from this guy who tried to kill me with a pitchfork."

Ino's eyes widened even further as she looked at Naruto in wonder.

"He defended Sakura-chan from some random attacker?" she thought, guessing that the guy must've attacked her because of her association with him.

It also opened her eyes to the possible consequences of socialising with Naruto. She could lose her friends and end up being treated as sorely as he was. Could she really give all that up? Before, she would have answered no right off the bat. Socialising with people like Naruto was beneath her and she cared more about her reputation than anything else with the possible exception of Sakura of course. After all, it was because of Sakura that she was seeing the real Naruto. She wouldn't be here if not for Sakura and from what she could establish, it was clear that Naruto's situation had quite a few similarities with Sakura's. She knew that Naruto was possibly hated for something beyond his control, just like Sakura was bullied because of her forehead, which she had no control over. She had confronted Sakura out of morbid curiosity the day she had met her and once she saw that Sakura needed help, she just couldn't leave her to fend for herself. Despite being popular, she just couldn't allow Sakura's situation to go on. She didn't want to think about the possible consequences if she had ignored Sakura that day.

Now that she knew the real Naruto, she could see that he was similar, though with Sakura, Ino didn't have to worry about others targeting her just because of her choice to become Sakura's friend and the people bullying Sakura weren't looking for her death. They just enjoyed teasing her because of her bigger-than-average forehead. Even though Naruto's situation was far worse, Ino could see that like Sakura, he needed help and knew that Sakura could only do so much herself. He would need more friends if he was to make it in this village. All her friends probably listened to their parents and did what they were told with regards to Naruto like most children do, but thanks to Sakura, she had a more open mind than most others and after hearing that Naruto saved Sakura's life, her respect for him shot up dramatically and she came to a decision. Yes, she would be his friends, everyone else be damned if they thought that she was too used to being Miss Popular to consider such a feat. Like Sakura, Naruto needed help; he needed all the help he could get and Ino would help her friend in helping Naruto, even if it meant giving up everything she had. She could abandon him, but then her conscience wouldn't give her peace.

"Lies, all lies," Shiori said, much to both Sakura and Ino's outrage, "He's just trying to trick you. He'll kill you eventually. I can't believe Fuhei-chan would allow you to hang out with such a repulsive creature Sakura."

"ENOUGH!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs before shooting Shiori a rage-filled glare with as much anger and hate as the one she had given him, "You don't know a damn thing about me, not a damn thing!"

He then turned and ran away with tears pouring down his cheeks, unable to take the Yamanaka matriarch's verbal abuse any long.

"Naruto-kun, wait…!" Sakura shouted as she ran after him.

Ino watched him go; shocked at his outburst with surprise in her eyes, but then again, she couldn't say she blamed him for running off. She then turned and shot her mother one of the nastiest glares she could muster, causing Shiori to look at her in shock.

"You call him a monster?" she said in a dangerously low tone, rage quickly pouring into her eyes, "The only monster I see here is you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you and the rest of this village put him through. You all hate him and refuse to tell us why and you poison and infect us with your hatred just to make his life miserable. I can see the real Uzumaki Naruto. Before, I only assumed that it was because of his pranks that he was hated and I was so caught up with myself that I went along with what everyone else said. If not for Sakura befriending him, I probably would've still been like that. He saved Sakura from Ami and saved her life. That's not a monster. He's just alone and misunderstood and all because you and everyone else decide that he's some kind of monster."

Shiori responded by viciously backhanding her daughter across the face as her anger exploded. She was absolutely livid that not only was her daughter standing up for that "demon", but she also had the nerve to talk down to her. Shiori had a brother who was a ninja and he had lost his life during the Kyuubi's rampage six years ago and unfortunately, she was best friends with Haruno Fuhei, which only intensified her hatred for the Kyuubi brat since Fuhei lost her husband in that same attack and they often denounced Naruto whenever they spoke with one another. However, she hadn't expected her daughter or her best friend's daughter to stand up for him, much less talk down to her like she was a child who had done something wrong. Something about children talking down to their elders absolutely infuriated her to no end. Children were supposed to follow their parents' example, no questions asked. That was what she believed. Children were not supposed to question their parents. Ino wasn't supposed to befriend the "demon brat", she wasn't supposed to question why.

Unfortunately, she had and something about that caused Shiori to cringe in disgust. She hated rebellious children; hated them with a passion. If the "demon brat" gained friends, it would certainly cause problems later. The younger generation may see fit to challenge their elders. All it would take was for one rebellious child to stand up to their elders and the rest of them might decide to follow their example. In Shiori's mind, it was what the "Kyuubi" was hoping for. If it could "corrupt" the minds of the younger generation, it would most certainly cause a rift to form in the village and lead to insurrection among the younger ranks of Konoha's shinobi. Such a scenario would be disastrous and could lead to civil war. Shiori wasn't a shinobi herself, but she had heard enough from her brother to understand how ninjas operated. An insurrection by the younger generation of Konoha could lead to Konoha's enemies capitalising on it and it would be the opportunity they're looking for to wipe out the village and all because of that "monster" kid.

"Don't you ever talk back to me young lady," she said, giving her daughter a furious glare, "You're messing with things you couldn't possibly understand. Now be a good girl and follow our example and don't ask questions. It's how things are meant to be. As a child, you are supposed to be an obedient little girl and follow our example, no questions asked."

Ino looked up at her mother with a look of absolute shock in her eyes as she caressed her sore cheek. Her mother had just hit her and hit her hard and not only that, but from the looks of it, she was trying to force her opinions onto her. She remembered looking into Naruto's eyes and seeing the pain and loneliness they possessed and she remembered the hate and disgust in her mother's eyes. It was infuriating to say the least. She knew that her mother was wrong, but from her mother's point of view, she was right because she was an adult and Ino was a child. Adults were always right and that belief absolutely disgusted Ino to no end and she was even more repulsed at the fact that this woman was her mother. How dare she assume that her daughter should be nothing more than her obedient servant and go along with her and believe that she was right all the time just because she was her mother?

"Okay Shiroi-chan, that's enough," a new voice came, causing both Ino and her mother to turn and stare at the newcomer; a man with long brownish blonde hair, tied into a ponytail by a red ribbon and dark brown eyes. He wore dark blue sandals, dark brown trousers, a black shirt with a green ninja vest and a long sleeveless red coat over that. He also wore light brown arms guards that ran from just below his elbows to his wrists with the top running over the tops of his hands and he also had a hitai-ate tied on his forehead, signifying him as a ninja.

"Tou-chan," Ino said in surprise with a stunned look on her face, wondering what her father was doing here.

Yamanaka Inoichi had been out looking for his wife, since she had been out for a while and he had found her, unfortunately just as she backhanded their daughter across the face.

"What's going on?" he demanded, giving his wife a hard stare, "Why did you hit our little girl?"

"She was standing up for that demon brat; her and Sakura both," Shiori replied with rage in her voice, "The demon's trying to corrupt our poor girl's soul."

"That's not true!" Ino shouted back in protest, "Naruto-kun's just a lonely misunderstood boy. I looked into his eyes and saw it."

"See, she even admits to socialising with that creature," Shiori said, her voice laced with outrage as she glared in the direction Naruto and Sakura ran off in.

Inoichi sighed as he shook his head. In truth, he was one of the few people who never really held anything against Naruto for what the Kyuubi did. In fact, he knew that Naruto was not the Kyuubi itself and that he only had it sealed inside him. Unfortunately, not many shared that view and many believed that he was the Kyuubi itself and those who were told that he had the Kyuubi sealed within him and that he wasn't the beast itself had developed the notion that the Kyuubi may take over him at any given moment and continue what it started six years previously. It disgusted Inoichi to no end just how stubborn some people were. He knew that those people who believed that the Kyuubi would take Naruto over were just looking for an excuse to justify and hang on to their hatred of him. Hatred runs deep and Inoichi knew that there were those who would not be swayed from their beliefs even if irrefutable proof was shoved in their faces. Many would go into denial and outright refuse to believe it. It felt like some people just had to have someone to blame for their misfortunate so they could feel better about themselves and he knew for a fact that his wife was one of those people.

He looked down at Ino with an inquiring look on his face.

"I guess you're one of those who hate Naruto-kun to, huh?" she said, giving her father a nasty glare.

"Don't call that thing that!" her mother snapped as she moved to backhand her daughter across the face once again, but Inoichi grabbed her wrist and shot her a glare.

"I said that's enough," he said before turning to face his daughter and his look softened somewhat and he flashed her a smile, "No, I don't hate him, but then again, I never actually stood up for him either, so I guess in a way you have every right to be angry with me musume-chan. However, I won't hold it against you if you want to be his friend. Go find him if you want."

Ino looked at her father with a surprised look on her face; surprised that her father didn't hate Naruto like mostly everyone else did. However, once the last of her father's speech was absorbed into her brain, she nodded and ran off.

"We'll discuss this later," Inoichi said in a hard tone, giving his stunned wife a furious look that told her that he was in no mood to argue.

He then sighed. True, he never viewed Naruto as the Kyuubi nor did he participate in the beatings the villages constantly gave him, but he had never actually taken steps to help him either. He was sorry that Naruto was living such a harsh life, but he never did anything that benefitted Naruto. He remembered one time two years ago, he had come across a group of villagers throwing stones at Naruto and he did stop. However, he just gave Naruto a pained look as if to say, "Sorry, but I can't help you" and just walked on. He guessed that it had been fear; fear that helping Naruto would label him a target as well. He knew that the owner of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and his daughter were not all that popular because of their acceptance of Naruto, but they had their stand, which was acting as a form of protection since there was no other ramen stands in the village. He had the flower shop, which was the only flower shop in the village, but his wife was a well-known Naruto-hater and if anything happened to him, she'd probably take over the shop.

He then let out a sigh. He knew that dealing with Shiori the next few days was going to be difficult.

* * *

Ino ran off in the direction Naruto and Sakura had run off in, hoping to catch up with them and hoping that her mother hadn't destroyed her chances of becoming Naruto's friend. She had been surprised and glad that her father didn't share her mother's beliefs. She was happy to know that not all the adults were against him. However, she was furious at her mother for her attitude towards Naruto and for her beliefs in what she, as her daughter was expected to do. Her mother had wanted her to just obey her and go along with everything. Children may be expected to follow their parents' example, but that didn't make them mindless drones or that their parents' example was right. The way Shiori had said it made Ino believe that her mother believed that children should have no right to think for themselves and were supposed to be the mindless drones she believed they were. It disgusted her that such a person was her mother. She could think for herself and could see what was there.

"_I'm right because I'm the adult and you're the child,_" her mother's voice came in her head as if taunting her, "_You shouldn't even be allowed to think. You're nothing but an extension of me, meant to follow my example._"

Her mother didn't say that, but that seemed to be the underlying message that she was trying to get across and the more Ino thought about it, the more it repulsed her. What right had her mother trying to force her own beliefs on her? Okay, she was her mother, but there was a line and Shiori had crossed that line.

The sound of crying immediately brought her out of her thoughts and back into reality as she slowed down and walked towards a tree where the crying was coming from. She then heard someone make comforting sounds as if to try and calm the person crying down. She walked round the tree and found Naruto crying on Sakura's shoulder as Sakura just hugged Naruto in a comforting embrace.

"Don't let what she said get to you Naruto-kun," Sakura said as she patted Naruto on the back, "She's wrong about you. They all are."

"B-b-but, s-s-she ruined e-e-e-everything," Naruto sniffed as he struggled to fight back the tears and regain his composure, "I w-w-was really h-h-hoping that Ino w-w-would be my f-friend."

Sakura nodded with a sigh in agreement. It seemed that the arrival of Ino's mother had ruined everything for him.

However, Ino just stood there, awestruck with the scene in front of her. Sakura may only be seven, but from the way she was comforting Naruto, she seemed to be someone who was wise beyond her years. It was definitely something to see her friend comfort someone else when she herself had been the one needing comforting in the first days of their friendship. It seemed that befriending Naruto had been beneficial for Sakura as well. Her confidence and self-esteem seemed to have risen dramatically, especially since she stood up for him when Shiori let her feelings be known. Ino couldn't help but smile. Sakura had been hoping to help Naruto and yet, Naruto was unknowingly helping Sakura overcome her own faults and helping her to bloom into the flower Ino herself had said she had the potential to become. She knew right there and then that she would become his friend to. There was no going back now and if being Naruto's friend meant losing everything her popular status had given her and receiving the same sort of treatment as he received, then so be it. He wouldn't be alone anymore.

She walked closer and Sakura looked up in surprise, clearly not expecting anyone to be there.

"Ino, what…?" she started to say, but Ino just raised her hand to her, silencing her before letting out a sigh.

She then looked directly at Naruto… or more specifically, into his eyes as Naruto looked back at her in confusion. He was about to lash out at her, believing that she had agreed with her mother and had just sought him out to torment him. However, looking into the blonde's eyes caused his words to leave him as he saw nothing in them expect for guilt, sadness and hope. There was no deception in her eyes and Naruto's anger dissipated as he realised that this girl wanted to be his friend.

"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry about what my mother said," she said with a sigh as she continued to stare him right in the eyes, "If anything, she just proved what Sakura-chan told me to be right. I admit that at first, I didn't want to believe it. I mean, I saw you as nothing more than this troublesome prankster that deserved everything you got. I was too busy being caught up with myself and listening to others that I never bothered looking into it. I thought everyone hated you because of your pranks and that was that. I never imagined that everyone wanted you dead. When Sakura-chan told me, part of me refused to believe it and I only went along with it just to keep her happy, but after meeting you and seeing you for myself. I've come to realise that I was wrong about you and my mother destroyed the part of me that refused to believe it. You're not a monster or a demon. Monsters and demons don't cry and they don't feel lonely."

Naruto looked at Ino for a moment and then took a small step towards her.

"You mean, you want to be my friend to?" he asked in a hopeful tone with a hopeful look in his eye.

Ino nodded with determination in her eyes.

"Yes Naruto-kun, I want to be your friend," she said with a nod, "I want to get to know you… the real you and not the troublemaker I so often saw in the past. You use that image to hide the fact that you're sad and alone. I may not understand much about what it's like, but I don't have to for me to realise why you become a troublemaker."

"B-b-but your other friends, your image… what about those things?" Naruto said, concerned that Ino would lose everything just for her socialisation with him, "I don't want you to end up losing all them because of me."

Ino shook her head.

"I'll admit that if not for Sakura, I wouldn't have given you a second thought," she admitted honestly, "However, if not for Sakura, I'd probably be more like everyone else. Besides, you may not know it, but you helped her out as well and I'm grateful for that. I will be your friend and nothing; not my image, not my friends and most definitely not my mother or the villagers will change my mind. You need all the friends you can get and I'll be more than happy to help Sakura-chan and you. Besides, because of you, I finally see kaa-chan's true colours."

* * *

**Glossary**

Tou-chan – Father (the chan suffix probably means the person saying it means daddy)

* * *

**Author's notes **– That's chapter four done… finally. I did say before in my notes in chapter one that updates would be random and could be far apart. This chapter, I must admit was pretty difficult for me since looking back at Naruto in the beginning, Ino didn't really think much of Naruto and with Naruto, the feeling was mutual (I believe during Sakura's fight with Ino, Naruto called Ino lame addressing her as "that lame Ino girl") I had a plan before, but I eventually realised that it would be weird and so, I had to change how Ino and Naruto would become friends. I felt that being so popular, Ino wouldn't be swayed from her outlook of Naruto until she saw the real him and fortunately, I believe that making friends with Sakura helped her become more open-minded about certain aspects since in this timeline that I'm working on, Sakura never ended her friendship with Ino over Sasuke. I also felt that Ino had to see Naruto's treatment first hand (her mother being the one to dish it out) in order to squash any doubt in her mind. Anyway, I got three reviews this chapter, the most I've had for a chapter, though one more did review chapter one. Next chapter Hinata will become Naruto's friend, thus completing the foursome I'm planning and then a few chapters of them interacting, though I'm thinking about a small before-canon arc (about three or four chapters), though at this point I'm not sure. On a side note, on Monday 15th June to Friday 20th June, I'll be away on a five-day holiday trip down in the East of England, so don't expect any updates between those dates and I'm telling you now in case I don't get a chance later.


	5. Shy Girl, Hyuga Hinata

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter Five – Shy Girl, Hyuga Hinata**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

**Three days later**

Naruto currently sat on a bench in Konoha Park with Haruno Sakura sitting to his right and Yamanaka Ino sitting to his left as all three of them just sat back and enjoyed the sunshine. It was another beautiful day in Konoha, though there were a few clouds up in the sky casting shadows down upon the ground's surface. Naruto, Sakura and Ino just sat back listening to the birds twittering away and the bees buzzing about the flowers looking for fresh pollen and nectar for their hives. A cool breeze blew in their faces as they just sat back without a care in the world as the wind blew in their hair. It was definitely a peaceful atmosphere since no one came along the pathways to glare at the trio.

For Naruto, it was a new experience. He was not used to having friends and therefore had no idea how to go about things, but Sakura and Ino had steered him right. He was surprised to learn that Ino had an extensive knowledge of flowers. Well, her family did own a flower shop, but he had been amazed that Ino had actually taken the time to learn about the different types of flowers her family's shop. He had watched as Ino helped Sakura with a flower arranging assignment that their academy sensei, a woman he knew as Suzume who took a girls only class and taught them about kunoichi and helped them prepare for their future lives as kunoichi. It was not a class that he was allowed in, nor did Suzume approve of him. Like everyone else, Suzume seemed to hate him with a passion, though he hardly ever saw her, but whenever he did, it always resulted in her chasing him away for no apparent reason, since he had just been minding his own business, so he always steered clear of her whenever he could.

It turned out that Sakura was completely clueless about flowers. Every time she tried to build a bouquet on her own, the end result was terribly off-putting. Naruto remembered cringing at the sight of Sakura's bouquets. However, with some help from Ino, her bouquets improved dramatically. Naruto listened to Ino as she explained it to Sakura, who seemed to forget everything Ino told her when going off on her own. Apparently, flower arranging was about finding a main flower for the bouquet and then using lesser flowers to highlight the main flowers and compliment them. Naruto had got it right and even built bouquets of his own, one for each of the girls and Ino had been impressed. She had no idea that he had been listening in, but was glad that he had since he showed that he definitely knew how to build a bouquet.

Speaking of Ino, since befriending Naruto, many of her friends, as predicted had deserted her, not that she cared. They had all been taken in by their parents and believed every word that had come out of their mothers and fathers' mouths and the other villagers didn't help matters. Ino was definitely beginning to understand certain aspects of life that she had taken for granted before. The villagers had started giving her the same kind of glares Naruto received; the same type of glare she had seen her mother give him three days ago. She also heard whispers and heard parts of conversations with people called her names such as "demon whore" and she remembered someone saying something along the lines of how Naruto had "corrupted" her. As for her home situation, the relationship between her and her mother had vastly deteriorated, as Shiori had made it quite clear that she refused to acknowledge "demon lovers" and that included her father as well. Ino remembered coming home that night and overhearing the end of a massive argument her parents were having over Naruto.

* * *

**Three days ago**

"_I don't want to hear it!" Inoichi shouted at his wife as he frantically paced up and down the living room of the Yamanaka house, which was joined to the flower shop._

"_How can you sympathise with that monster?" Shiori asked, clearly outraged that her husband had taken the "demon's" side and allowed their daughter to socialise with "it" as she stood at the doorway of the living room glaring at her husband, "You know what happened to Hiro."_

"_Of course I do," Inoichi replied with a huff, "Your brother was killed by the Kyuubi no Yoko."_

"_Then why do you defend it?" Shiori asked, repeating her question as her glare intensified, "That thing still lives. It dwells among us in that disgusting human form. My brother's murderer walks freely while the Hokage and the shinobi community does nothing."_

_Inoichi sighed. His wife's older brother, Mizumaru Hiro was one of the Kyuubi's many victims. Inoichi remembered him well since they had been the best of friends while in the academy and he had hoped that they would be on the same three-man genin team, though, to his disappointment, he had ended up on the same team as Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Choza, though he did get on well with his teammates and they became the famous InoShikaCho trio. Anyway, it was because of his friendship with Hiro that Inoichi had met Shiori and they had both quickly fallen in love and with the approval of both Hiro and the Mizumaru patriarch, Hiro and Shiori's father, they had gotten married._

_However, since the Kyuubi attack, Shiori had changed drastically from the nice, kind and caring woman he had fallen in love with to a rather cold and short-tempered woman that snapped over even the smallest of things. Since Naruto was the container for her brother's killer, she immediately followed everyone else in using him as a substitute and scapegoat. She had been very adamant about Naruto and her desire to see him dead and often participated in many of the beatings and always managed to slip away unnoticed when the ninja and ANBU showed up to break up the crowd and arrest those they managed to catch. It was made worse when Ino had met Sakura when Shiori had befriended Sakura's mother, Fuhei. Fuhei had lost her husband to the Kyuubi and they both shared a mutual hatred of Naruto. In fact, Inoichi figured that his wife spent more time with Fuhei than anyone else whenever she was out. In any case, Inoichi had had enough of his wife's attitude._

"_Uzumaki Naruto is not the Kyuubi," Inoichi replied in response to his wife's statement, "It's sealed inside him. Can't you see that?"_

"_Lies!" Shiori retorted furiously, "That thing is the Kyuubi in human form. If it's not killed, its power will eventually be restored and this village will perish."_

"_You're wrong," Inoichi replied as he shook his head, "The Kyuubi is sealed inside him, therefore it's a separate entity from him. The Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in the child because he couldn't kill it. It was his dying wish that the boy be made a hero for keeping the monster from destroying our village."_

"_You lie!" Shiori protested, raising her voice as she shot her husband a disgusted look, "The Yondaime would never do that. He would never want us to look up to that thing as a hero as if it were a normal child and if he did… well I guess he was planning on having its power released at a later date to continue its rampage and therefore, perhaps the Yondaime isn't the hero we all believed him to be."_

_Inoichi shot his wife a disgusted look; clearly outraged at her level of stubbornness. Some people were so close-minded that they'd come up with just about anything to hang onto their hatred, even going as far as to turn against the Yondaime if it meant hanging onto their hatred of Naruto and claiming that the Yondaime himself was perhaps behind the attack and had sealed the Kyuubi and hoped that it would be released at a later date to finish what it had started. A load of crap, Inoichi knew, but that was just how deep some of the villagers' hatred ran and it disgusted him to no end. He was even more disgusted that his wife was one of those people. _

"_You know that that's not true," Inoichi said in response to Shiori statement, "The Yondaime loved this village and would do just about anything to protect it, even if it cost him his life."_

"_Of course," Shiori agreed with a nod, "That's why he sealed the Kyuubi in that human form. So we could finish what he started. So why do you defend it and allow our daughter to socialise with it?"_

"_I already told you; he's not the Kyuubi itself," Inoichi said, clearly annoyed at his wife's stubborn attitude as he let out a groan of frustration, "You and the rest of this village refuse to see it. I understand that the Kyuubi killed a lot of people and that you're all angry, but taking it out on an innocent child who's just as much a victim of the Kyuubi's attack as the rest of you isn't going to solve anything."_

_Shiori remained silent for a moment as she looked at her husband with a stunned look of betrayal on her face. From her facial expression, it was as if she discovered that someone had betrayed her. She then gave her husband a hard look._

"_Is that how you feel?" she asked him, her voice laced with rage and fury, "Is that truly how you feel… that we're the ones at fault?"_

"_All I'm saying is that you're taking your anger out on an innocent boy," Inoichi replied while unbeknownst to him, Ino had just entered the hallway after spending the day with Naruto, "What you're doing won't help anyone. Think of the example we're setting for our children. We're teaching them how to hate someone. Supposing they encounter a foreigner, huh? What then? If we're teaching them how to hate one of our own, then they may assume that it's okay to hate complete strangers who mean no harm to anyone."_

"_Outsiders are trash!" Shiori shouted, startling both Ino and Inoichi, causing them to jump back, "Konohagakure no Sato is the greatest of the five Great Shinobi Nations and everyone else is of little consequence."_

_Both father and daughter stared at this woman shocked and stunned beyond belief at her statement. Ino couldn't believe that this woman… no, this monster was her mother where as Inoichi couldn't believe that this was the same woman he had fallen in love with all those years ago. Her close-minded stubbornness was one thing, but her belief that outsiders didn't matter because Konoha was the strongest of the five main hidden villages was another. Didn't she realise that Konoha was as strong as it was partially due to outside influences. Some of those influences were essential to Konoha's economy and without them; the village would no doubt be brought down to its knees. _

"_You're wrong about that," Inoichi said with a hard stare, "Or are you just so determined to hang onto your hatred of Naruto that you'll say just about anything to do so? Have you forgotten that dear Fuhei-san is herself, an outsider?"_

_Shiori was at a loss for words to explain herself. However, she eventually regained her composure as anger flooded her senses as she shot both her husband and daughter hateful a nasty hateful glare._

"_Whatever, I don't have to listen to this delusional nonsense," she said, practically spitting at both her husband and daughter, her voice dripping with pure venom, "Fuhei-chan's origins are not being discussed here and to be perfectly honest, I could care less where she came from. She's my friend and always will be. At least she agrees with me about that repulsive thing. I may not agree with how she's decided to handle her daughter's association with "it", but Sakura's not my daughter and it's not my place to force Sakura into anything. If Fuhei-chan believes that her daughter will eventually come around, then let her. As for me… I refuse to live under the same roof as "demon lovers"."_

_Both Inoichi and Ino gasped, with Ino's gasp alerting her father to her presence, causing him to sin his head round as far as it would go._

"_Musume-chan," he said in alarm as a look of fear flooded his face, "How long have you been there?"_

"_Just before she said that outsiders were trash," Ino said as she shot her mother a nasty look just as Inoichi let out a sigh of relief that she never heard anything about the Kyuubi or its connection to Naruto, "Which might I say, you're wrong about, just as you're wrong about how, as your child that I'm supposed to go along with whatever you want and not ask questions like I'm some kind of mindless machine and how I'm not supposed to think for myself."_

"_I never said…" Shiori started to say, before she realised that their was no point in arguing since she was too furious and outraged at the moment to think straight and she sent her daughter and husband a repulsive glare, "You know what…"_

_She paused as she raised her hands in front of her to chest level, crisscrossing them._

"_Forget it," she went on, uncrossing her hands and flew them out to the sides in a quick fashion as if to say, "I'm through with everything. I don't have to listen to you ungrateful people who believe in fending for demons."_

_She then directed her look solely on her husband as her glare intensified._

"_Inoichi, I want a divorce," she blurted out simply as she turned to glare at her daughter, "And Ino, if you want to hang out with that thing; fine. See if I care. Just so you know though, from this point forward, you are only my daughter by blood and nothing more. I no longer consider you my daughter, though the fact remains that I brought you into the world."_

_Ino was shocked and stunned for a moment, but she eventually found her voice and she shot her mother a hateful glare. _

"_Yeah, well I don't want such a heartless bitch as a mother anyway," she said, spitting venom at the woman that she had once revered as her mother, "Naruto-kun's not the monster; you are; you and the rest of those disgusting people."_

_Shiori's eyes widened at Ino's backlash as she was clearly hurt by her daughter's harsh statement. However, before she could respond, she noticed Inoichi give her a disappointed and defeated look, full of hurt, sorrow, pity and anger; anger over her close-minded state and the lengths she was willing to go just to hang onto her hatred of Naruto._

"_You know Shiori-san, I pity you, I really do," he said as he looked down at Ino with an apologetic look in his eyes as he knew how upsetting his next statement would be for her, "If you want a divorce, then fine. Your wish is my command. You're no longer the woman I fell in love with all those years ago. Just as Ino said, you've become every bit a heartless monster as the one you accuse Naruto of being. I hope you find yourself again because I definitely wouldn't want to think of the consequences if you don't."_

* * *

**Present.**

Ino cringed as she remembered that. Her mother had moved out and that was that. It had been upsetting to say the least that her mother was so close-minded that she would say just about anything to hold onto her beliefs. Ino didn't want a mother like that and in a way, she was glad that her mother left because she didn't think she could've tolerated her mother hating Naruto; not when it was clear that she was in the wrong. Ino knew that Naruto was no monster. Since befriending him, she had gotten to know him quite well. It was upsetting that her mother and father divorced and her mother moved out and since it had been over Naruto, had the circumstances been different, Ino would have blamed him for it and would have betrayed him, but since she knew that Naruto was misunderstood and in need of all the friends he could get, she found that she just couldn't put him at fault. The fault lay with the villagers and not him and besides; she may have lost most of her old friends, but at least she still had Sakura, her best friend and that was good enough for her.

"Even though I lost most of my friends, at least I still have you Sakura-chan, and Naruto-kun to," she thought with a content smile on her face, "Not to worry Naruto-kun; we'll be your friends if no one will. You won't have to worry about being alone again."

* * *

Six-year-old Hyuga Hinata sat on a bench at the other side of the park, bringing knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms round her legs. Depression had already set in; in fact depression had set in years ago. She was heiress to the powerful Hyuga Clan, one of the oldest and most ancient clans in the village whose power was only second to that of the Uchiha Clan. The Hyuga Clan was well known for their Byakugan dojutsu, their Kekkei Genkai and their Jyuken taijutsu style, which was most effective when used by someone with the Byakugan. The Byakugan allowed those who possessed it a 360-degree field of vision as well as see through objects and also give the person telescopic vision as well as a degree of microscopic vision. Hinata knew that there were those so skilled in the use of their Byakugan that they could notice even the smallest of bugs in the corner of a room from the corner of their eye. However, what many of the Hyuga Clan used the Byakugan for was to see the keirakurei of their opponents and attack their tenketsu in order to disrupt their flow of chakra, which was where the Jyuken came in.

The Jyuken was a taijutsu style that incorporated the use of palm strikes that basically aimed to damage the enemy's keirakurei and hampering their ability to use chakra. In order to accomplish this, the Jyuken user would inject a small amount of their own chakra into the opponent's keirakurei and use it to decrease or increase the flow of chakra depending on how they hit their opponent and since the keirakurei was so closely tied with the body's internal organs, the Jyuken can also be used to attack the enemy's internal organs. Even the gentlest of touches could prove devastating and cause major damage if not death and the fact that the keirakurei was invisible to normal eyes and that the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan could make it visible meant that the Hyuga Clan was one of the deadliest and most feared clans in the Five Great Shinobi Nations.

However, none of that mattered to Hinata. The Hyuga Clan was well known for its strict by-the-book no-nonsense policies and the emotionless expressions on their faces whenever they were seen in public. Her father, Hiashi was known for his cold, hard and almost frightening look he wore mostly all the time. Hiashi was a very intimidating man, Hinata knew and he was so intimidating that even the other Hyugas were mostly all a bit wary of him. He was very strict and tolerated nothing short of absolute and complete success, which of course Hinata was lacking.

Hinata was the clan's black sheep. Unlike many of the others, she had a kind and caring attitude towards other, which set her at odds with the rest of the clan who believed that emotions were a sign of weakness. During her sparring sessions, Hinata would always hold back against her partner, which allowed him or her to gain the upper hand and defeat her, which her father and the Hyuga Council did not approve of. Hinata remembered how she had been trained from the very first day she learned how to walk and how her kindness and concern for her sparring partners' well being lead to constantly being berated by her father and the Hyuga Council. Her father was even more frightening when he was angry and at times, from the look on his face, she had believed that he was going to kill her at times. It wasn't that Hinata couldn't defeat her partners, it was because she had feared overdoing it and causing them serious harm and when she told the council this, they had just waved it off, making it clear that they didn't care about the well being of their fellow clansmen, labelling them as expendable pawns whose only purpose was to serve and die for the benefit of the Main Household. Anyway, after years of suffering constant verbal lashings due to the fact that she lost and as heiress to the clan, she wasn't supposed to lose and those berating her calling her weak and unfit, Hinata started believing it to be true and it affected her performance, causing her skills to dwindle and it was so bad that Hinata suffered from an inferiority complex, believing that she was not only the weakest in her clan, but the weakest in the entire village. Her performance in the academy classes weren't all that good, leading to more and more verbal abuse at home.

"Why am I so weak?" she thought to herself, looking up at the sky as if it alone could provide the answers she sought.

She remembered pouring her heart and soul into her training at the academy, training till her hands were bleeding and bruised, but whenever she had to put that training to the test, she would always freeze up at the last possible moment as the voice of her father and the Hyuga Council members seemed to echo in her head with their verbal assaults as if they were taunting her. No matter how hard she trained or tried to block the voices from her head, they would always find their way into her head and berate her for her weakness and it caused her to go into important tests expecting to fail no matter how hard she tried and it hampered her performance.

Unfortunately, her position as heiress to the clan only served to make things worse, since she was expected to excel at everything and rise above her emotions. There was now talk of replacing her as heiress with her little sister, Hanabi, who was only one-year-old and her father, being the cold strict person that he was showing signs of agreeing with the Hyuga Council. Hinata didn't like it one bit. As much as she wanted to stand up for herself and prove everyone wrong about their opinions of her, the voices of those who had berated her continued to haunt her thoughts and always seemed to get in the way of her making any real progress.

However, before she could dwell on her life any further, a shadow suddenly loomed over her, well the shadows of three people to be exact.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a girl's voice said in a cruel, boastful tone, "Some little Hyuga who thinks just because they're from a big shot clan that they can walk wherever they please like they own the place."

Hinata looked up and saw three girls standing over her with big arrogant grins on their faces as they stood with their arms folding and from the looks of their postures, they were trying to make themselves look tough; especially the purple haired girl in the middle.

"You must feel that you're some high and mighty princess coming from a noble clan," the purple haired girl said and Hinata knew it was her who had spoken before, "Must think its okay to get everything you want while us lesser folk get absolutely squat no matter how hard we work while you don't have to lift a finger."

The two other girls nodded in agreement as they both looked at their apparent leader, which seemed to cause her grin to widen.

Hinata cringed at the girl's tone. It was clear that whoever this girl was, she was out to cause trouble for her and she didn't want any part in it. Hyuga's were easily identifiable from their pure white pupilless eyes, so it was no surprise that these girls knew what clan she came from.

"Leave me alone," Hinata said meekly in a voice that was barely above a whisper, "I haven't done anything to you."

"Huh?" the purple haired girl said in mock wonder as she placed her hand to the side of her ear in a gesture that suggested that she was trying to amplify her own hearing, "I'm sorry, what was that? Speak up. I can't hear you."

"I think she wants us to leave her alone Ami," the girl to the right said in a tone of mock concern.

"Yeah," the girl to the left said in the same kind of tone as her friend, "I think I heard her say that she's done nothing to us."

Ami just looked down at Hinata with a cruel smirk on her face. Ever since being punched in the face by Naruto six days ago when he came to Sakura's rescue, she had been in a sour mood. Never before had she been so humiliated. A boy actually had the nerve to punch her and not just any boy; the most hated boy in the village had actually gotten his nose in something that was clearly not his business and totally ruined her day. If that wasn't bad enough, word had spread of what happened and Ami found her popularity dwindle somewhat. Many of those she had used to bolster her image had been afraid of Naruto due to them listening to what their parents had said and since Ami had provoked him, many of Ami's so-called friends feared that Naruto would come after them next due to their association with Ami and had distanced themselves from her; something that had infuriated Ami to no end. Naruto had damaged her reputation and even more infuriating still; she had discovered that Ino had befriended him as well, though the only upside to that was that Ino had lost everything she ever had. Ami smirked when she heard that Ino's mother had even divorced her father because of Naruto and in her mind, Ino had been brought down to her proper place. Unfortunately Ami's triumph was short-lived as she learned that Ino didn't care about that and along with Sakura, they both became Naruto's friends and spent their time with him. Even more infuriating still was that since befriending Naruto, Sakura seemed to grow more and more confident and had shocked her when she stood up to her all by herself. Infuriated that her main target was no longer the weak needy little girl she once was, Ami decided to, like most bullies do when their main target gains some courage, go off and find a new target to take their negativities out on and unfortunately for Hinata, Ami had chosen her as her new target. The reason being, though Ami didn't know Hinata all that well, she had seen her at the academy a few times and from what she had seen of her, Hinata was an even more easier target than Sakura had been when she had decided to start picking on her and the fact that Hinata's eyes were pure white with no pupils, making her look blind gave Ami the perfect excuse to use her as her new punching bag.

"Is that so?" Ami said in a tone of mock surprise before shooting her a cruel boastful look, "You want us to leave you alone, is that it?"

Hinata just nodded, knowing full well that they had no intentions of complying with her wishes. It made her feel vulnerable and even more exposed than she already felt. She found herself wishing that she could find a corner somewhere where she could just curl up and die or at the very least, that those cruel sadistic girls would just disappear.

"Ain't gonna happen you little pupilless freak," Ami said as her face became flooded with anger, "I can't stand little freaks like you that hail from rich and powerful clans that believe they own the world and that they can just walk all over everyone else. I especially can't stand that disgusting Hyuga Clan with their disgusting eyes. It's sickening for such eyes to exist. They're a bunch of freaks, the whole lot of them, including you."

If it had been any other Hyuga that Ami had insulted, she would have been dead. Making fun or insulting a Hyuga's eyes was one of the worst crimes one could commit. The Hyuga Clan took pride in their eyes and to have someone talk about their eyes in such a disgraceful manner was insulting. Hinata knew that if it had been her cousin, Neji that Ami was talking to, she'd probably be dead the moment she stopped talking. No one insulted the eyes of the Hyuga Clan and lived to tell about it. Just by insulting her eyes, Hinata knew that by Hyuga Clan law, Ami's life was already forfeit and the Hyuga Council didn't care much for the person's age. If they discovered someone had insulted their eyes, they'd have that person assassinated regardless of whether they were an adult or a child. Fortunately for Ami, she had encountered the clan's black sheep. Either she didn't know the Hyuga Clan's laws or she was just stupid and confident that word wouldn't reach the ears of the reach of the clan. Hinata definitely wouldn't tell anyone about Ami's insults. Se didn't like that law and no matter what, she didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death just because they were expressing their opinions. Everyone had their right to their own views and beliefs, Hinata knew. However, sometimes it was wise for people to keep their own opinions and beliefs to themselves. Unfortunately, the Hyuga Council didn't see things that way. If someone was expressing anti-Hyuga views, their reaction was to have that person silenced just to help bolster their pride. Hinata didn't want to be responsible for Ami's death, even though she felt that Ami deserved it.

"What's the matter?" Ami went on as her expression returned to the same cruel sadistic one as before, "Cat got your tongue pupilless freak?"

"D-d-don't call me t-t-that," Hinata stuttered as she tried to muster up the courage to stand up to this girl who dared insult her and she stood up from the bench in an attempt to confront Ami, "I-I-I've d-d-d-done nothing t-to you, now p-p-p-please l-l-leave me a-a-alone."

Ami just snorted and slammed her hand into Hinata's shoulder, causing her to fall back down on the bench and the little courage that Hinata had managed to gather vanished quickly as the voices started tormenting her again.

"_Weak, you're too weak,_" the voice of her father came, "_You'll never amount to anything, so don't even bother trying. You're a lost cause._"

"_You shouldn't even try,_" the cold harsh voice of her cousin, Neji came as she almost pictured him staring at her with nothing but pure venom and hatred in his eyes, "_This is your fate. You may be part of the Main Household, but you're destined for failure._"

Hinata cringed as those two and other voices continued to assault her thoughts, taunting her, sapping away her confidence and self-esteem and leaving her nothing more than a frightened little girl at the mercy of three cruel girls who seemed to be out to ruin her day for no other reason than because she was a Hyuga.

"What did you do to us?" Ami said in a cruel boastful tone of mock curiosity before her face twisted into an angry expression; the same one she had when Sakura asked her a similar question, "You were born into this village and you breathe the same air that I breathe. People like you disgust me because you're nothing more than freaks and I absolutely detest freaks."

Ami glared down at the trembling heiress as a smirk crept onto her lips. She enjoyed the frightened look on the poor girl's face. There was something about making others feel miserable that Ami found exciting. She found that she liked bullying others and making their lives miserable. It made her feel good about herself and she used that feeling to boast her image. It made her feel powerful and in control and it was that feeling she enjoyed most of all. She believed she could do anything and get away with it. Nothing was beyond her and she always got what she wanted.

Unfortunately, since that incident six days ago, Ami's little fantasy had come under threat. Many of her so-called friends had distanced themselves from her due to her confrontation with Naruto for fear of becoming his next targets and much of the power Ami believed she had had diminished and it left Ami feeling something she had never felt before. She didn't know how to describe this new feeling that had come over her, but it infuriated her the more she thought about it. The reality of it was harsh and Ami, being the type of person she was, could not take the fact that things were not going her way anymore and so, she had decided to select Hinata as her new target, believing that if she targeted her, then she'd get everything she lost back and she also believed that people would forget about her confrontation with Naruto and things would get back to "normal".

"Soon everything will be back to the way they were," she thought to herself arrogantly, "And then I'll make that whisker-faced freak pay for humiliating me, then I'll deal with you Sakura."

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the other side of the park, Naruto, Sakura and Ino had decided to get up and go for a walk round the park. Sakura and Ino walked on either side of him as he took the middle with a peaceful look on his face for a change. For the first time in his life, he could honestly say that he felt happy and content. Never before had he felt like this and he had to admit that it was strange. He was so used to people glaring at him, hurling insults at her and running from lynch mobs out for his blood and receiving their beatings. Never before had anyone befriended him for so long. In the past whenever the children befriended him, it wouldn't take long before they abandoned him due to their parents finding out. Sometimes whenever he befriended someone, their first meeting would be okay, but once they went their separate ways and they met up again, the child would either tell him about what his or her parents had told them about him or would just regard him with the same cold glares as the adults did. Of course, now he had become so used to it that he didn't act as if it bothered him. Now he would just outwardly give an uncaring shrug and move on like it was nothing, but inwardly, those acts of abandonment tore him apart and quite often whenever he was alone, he would curl up and cry till he fell asleep.

Now however, things were looking up. Now he had not one, but two people he could call his friends. Sure, they were both girls and at the ages they were at just now, many children believed that the opposite gender was gross, but in Naruto's case. He had been so desperate for a friend that he did not care for the gender of the two people he had befriended and likewise, Sakura and Ino had been so touched by him and had been shocked at his cruel treatment and the pain and loneliness he suffered that they didn't care for the fact he was a boy. Of course, it meant that they both were targets of the villagers' hatred as well just for socialising with him and Naruto found himself upset when he heard that Ino's mother had divorced her father and moved out, though he was glad to hear that Ino's father didn't regard him the same as everyone else in the village. Ino had lost her mother and most of her friends because of him, but Ino had assured him that it didn't really matter and that she didn't want to see her mother again for as long as she lived due to her own self-centred views on life. She knew that things were going to be tough from now on, but she was confident that with Naruto and Sakura by her side, she could brave it all and go on to become a valuable asset to the village and help Naruto prove everyone wrong about whatever it was they hated him for.

"Huh, hey is that Ami?" Sakura said, bringing Ino and Naruto both out of their thoughts as she pointed at a familiar purple haired girl and her two cronies who seemed to be tormenting someone who was cowering in fear and trying to back away from the three cruel girls, but the backboard of the bench she was currently sitting on prevented any chance of escape.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he recognised Ami from six days ago when he had saved Sakura from her and he also recognised the girl Ami and her lackeys were tormenting.

"Oh my, that is Ami," Ino said as she surveyed the scene; though she didn't recognise Ami's victim, she could easily identify the girl as a Hyuga from the white pupilless eyes she had.

She also had dark bluish hair and wore, a pair of dark blue sandals, blue trousers and a heavy light brown fur coat as if it was cold. However, it was fairly warm and Ino didn't understand why she was wearing that coat. Wasn't she sweltering in it? Of course, she was sweating at the moment, but it seemed to be more out of fear at what Ami and her two lackeys were going to do to her.

"What's she doing bugging Hinata?" Naruto asked no one in particular, glaring at Ami as he was reminded of how he had come across her bullying Sakura.

"You know her Naruto-kun?" Ino asked, turning to face him with a look of surprise on her face.

"We've never actually spoken face to face before," Naruto said, clarifying that fact as he continued to glare at Ami; not turning to look at Ino or Sakura, "However, I've seen her around. She's kind and caring from what I've seen, though she's shy. She never did anything to anyone."

"Neither did I," Sakura spoke up as she joined Naruto in glaring at her worst enemy, "But that didn't stop Ami from picking on me and it seems that she's decided to find herself someone else to pick on since the last time we met, I pretty much put her in her place."

Naruto growled as his glare intensified. Seemed this girl didn't learn her lesson. He just couldn't understand how some people got pleasure out of making other people's lives a misery. They seemed to just do it for no reason at all just so they could feel good about themselves. Whenever Naruto was the victim of the villagers' hatred, he felt that they were like that; making his life a living hell just to feel good about themselves, though he knew it probably ran much deeper than that. However, Ami seemed to victimise others just for the sheer hell of it. He couldn't understand why. What purpose did it serve? Didn't he already deal with her?

Well, regardless of those questions, Naruto knew that Hinata needed help and he was not going to just sit back and watch as Ami and her cronies did what they wanted to her. Apparently, Sakura and Ino had the same idea, as they to were glaring at Ami. Ami obviously hadn't learned her lesson and since she couldn't target Sakura anymore, it seemed that she had selected a new target and that was something that infuriated Naruto more than anything. It only served to remind him of his own situation and the situation that Sakura and Ino now faced because of their association with him.

"I say we put a stop to this," Naruto said as he turned his head to face both Sakura and Ino, who nodded in agreement.

True, they may not know Hinata at all, but they just couldn't stand by and watch her being abused by their most hated enemy. For Sakura, it was a reminder of how Ami used to pick on her because of her huge forehead and it seemed as if Ami was targeting Hinata because of her eyes; something like her forehead; Hinata had no control over. For Ino however, it was like seeing Sakura for the first time all over again. She could tell that Hinata was scared and too timid to fight back, just like Sakura had been. Hinata looked like a cornered mouse to her and like with Sakura, Ino saw Hinata as someone who was in dire need of help in building up her confidence. Perhaps she could even be a new friend for Naruto since Ino knew that the more friends Naruto had the better since he needed all the friends he could get and apparently, Sakura had similar thoughts running through her head.

"Okay Naruto-kun, let's put a stop to this," Sakura said and that seemed to act as a signal as all three of them advanced on the three unsuspecting bullies who continued to torment their poor victim, unaware of the three interlopers that had every intention of spoiling their fun.

"Ready to pay for being the freak that you are?" Ami mockingly asked with a cruel smile framing her face as she cracked her knuckles, ready to inflict a world of pain on the poor Hyuga heiress.

Hinata tried to shrink further into the bench as the three sadistic girls advanced on her, ready to unload a world of pain and she felt defeated and alone. No one was here to save her and even if they were, Hinata wouldn't be surprised if they just decided to sit back and watch, allowing Ami and her accomplices beat her up because she knew that the majority if not all of the Hyuga Clan viewed her as a disgrace and not worth anything now that they had Hanabi, whom they seemed to view as her replacement as clan heiress. She was pathetic, she was useless, she was not worth saving and she was better off dead. She had never wanted to just curl up and die as badly as she did right now, mentally cursing herself for her own failure.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice came, just as Ami balled up her fist and prepared to throw the first punch, causing her to stop.

Hinata also looked up after hearing the voice with a look of confusion as she turned her head in the direction of the voice and gasped as she saw who it was.

"N-N-Naruto-kun," she stuttered with disbelief evident in her voice.

Naruto, the person she admired was here to save her. It had to be a dream. There was no way someone like Naruto would waste his time on someone like her. Why would someone as confident and as fearless as Naruto stick his neck out for her? They never even spoke directly to one another before.

Hinata was another person who didn't share the villagers' hatred like most of the other children did. In fact, she actually admired him. He was strong, confident, never willing to give up no matter what where as she was weak, pathetic and always caved in whenever faced with any real tests… all things considered, Naruto was her polar opposite. It was like he was the physical manifestation of all the things she wanted to be. However, she had always been too shy to talk to him and would always move away whenever he was near her; not because she hated him, it was because she was afraid to speak with him since she didn't know what to say to him and whenever distancing herself from him wasn't possible, her brain seemed to have developed a brilliant… or bothersome (whatever way you look at it) defence mechanism in causing her to faint in case he spoke to her. It didn't stop her from admiring him and someday she hoped that she could find something to say to him so that she could approach him without the fear of passing out and hopefully he'd help her build her confidence up. She dreamed of someday being like Naruto.

Of course, she knew of his horrible and oppressive treatment at the hands of the villagers and that upset her greatly. She couldn't understand why the villagers regarded him with such hatred and scorn. What did he do to deserve such awful treatment? How could the villagers be so cruel as to want to kill a child? The one thing that flooded Hinata's heart with anger and hatred was the villagers' treatment of Naruto. From what she knew, Naruto had done nothing wrong… well he did pull an awful lot of pranks, but that wasn't a good reason for wanting him dead. Hinata remembered that she had happened to come across some of Naruto's beatings in the past and from what she saw, the villagers were out to kill him. However, the village's shinobi always intervened and some of the culprits were arrested. Hinata just couldn't understand it. None of Naruto's pranks in the past had been harmful or mean-spirited. She was smart enough to know that his pranks were undoubtably a form of revenge against the villagers for their mistreatment of him. However, none of his victims had been seriously hurt or killed because of his pranks and those that were injured in some way were okay again within a few days. Naruto's pranks left no permanent damage to the village or anyone's possessions. His pranks alone didn't merit such awful treatment. There had to be something else. Something deeper that she wasn't aware of. However, Naruto somehow managed to endure and came back with a smile. It was one of the reasons Hinata admired him. However, she couldn't help but wonder how he could endure such treatment and not develop a hatred for the village. If it were her, she knew that she'd probably either kill herself or would've run away a long time ago. How Naruto was able to take it without resorting to suicide or running away or even planning revenge on the villagers was beyond her. Nevertheless, she admired him for it.

When it came to why the villagers hated Naruto, she had asked her father about it, but he had just changed the subject and the rest of the clan seemed to be neutral in the whole Naruto affair. Unlike the other children, she was never told not to associate herself with Naruto by her father or the Hyuga Council. The other children obeyed their parents blindly, but Hinata wasn't given the same message. The Hyuga Council and her father just turned a blind eye to Naruto like he didn't matter to them, but then again that was just typical Hyuga arrogance. If it didn't affect their clan then it was none of their concern. However, she suspected that some of the Hyuga Clan did share the villagers' opinion of Naruto and only kept quiet about it in the hope that she would befriend him and it would either give them the perfect excuse to get rid of her or they were counting on the delusion that she heard many parents tell their children that hanging around with Naruto would get them killed would become a reality for her. In any case, the Hyuga Clan regarded Naruto as a matter beneath their notice since he hadn't caused trouble for them before and so long as he left them alone, they were more than happy to leave him alone.

Back to reality, Hinata just stared in wonder and disbelief as she saw Naruto with two girls; one on either side of him glaring down her three tormenters. She still couldn't believe that Naruto would stick his neck out for her. Didn't he realise that she wasn't worth it? In her mind, anyone saving her were just wasting their time. She just wasn't worth it.

"You," Ami said, her voice dripping with hatred and venom as she whipped her head round in Naruto's direction and glared him, Sakura and Ino down.

Ami was absolutely seething as she glared at all three interlopers who dared spoil her "fun". She couldn't believe it. Once again Naruto had come to ruin her day just like he did six days ago. Was this a new fetish of his? Was he now out to ruin her life? In Ami's mind, the answer was yes. The fact he was here to stop her from antagonising her newly chosen target was testament of that and the fact that her former target and her best friend were there providing backup this time round only infuriated her even more.

"It's not enough that made Sakura-chan's life a living hell," Ino said in clear disgust, shooting the purple haired girl a nasty glare, "You now have the gall to go and bully someone else since Sakura's no longer intimidated by you."

"People like you make me sick Ami," Sakura said with a nasty sneer, "Can't pick on me anymore, so you go after someone else… You're just a spoiled little troll that can't take no for an answer."

"You seriously don't know when to quit, do you?" Naruto said, folding his arms across his chest as he intensified his glare, "I thought that you would've learned your lesson before, but it seems that you haven't. Still picking on people because of things they have no control over. You make me sick."

"The feelings mutual," Ami barked back as her fists tightened, "It seems that you freaks look out for one another; "Freaks United", that's what you all are; a whisker faced freak, a pupilless freak, a big-headed freak and a "I'm so popular" freak. Well guess what Ino; you've got nothing left. I heard that since being friends with Whisker-face, everyone's left and abandoned you. Heck, even your mom's cleared off."

"I still have Naruto-ken and Sakura-chan," Ino countered with an uncaring look on her face, which only served to infuriate Ami further, "If my former friends don't like me because of Naruto-kun, so be it. They know nothing and neither does my mom… or maybe she does but just doesn't care."

Ino paused as she let out a growl as she remembered her mother's stubborn attitude and delusional views on life. She definitely wouldn't put it past her mother to know the truth and hate Naruto anyway. From what she had seen of her mother since befriending Naruto, that possibility was pretty easy to believe.

"In any case, I could care less about that monster," she went on, shaking her head to dismiss the thoughts of her mother, "Unless she comes to her senses, I want nothing to do with her."

Ami just growled. The ammunition she thought she had against Ino turned out to be useless. She shot the three friends a hateful glare of rage. How dare they? How dare they spoil her fun? She was better than they were. The fact that Ino was unfazed by the loss of her popularity as well as her mother's divorce only served to add fuel to the fire. She wanted to make them suffer; Naruto for interfering with her fun, Sakura because of her big forehead, Hinata because of her eyes and Ino because she had gotten in the way of her having "fun" with Sakura in the past.

"Anyway, we're not going to let you hurt Hinata-chan," Naruto said, bringing everyone back to the topic at hand, causing Hinata to stare at him with a confused look on her face since her had addressed her with the chan suffix.

"Hinata-chan," Ami said in a mocking tone as she seemed to calm down somewhat as she looked between Naruto and Hinata, "Do you always use that suffix when addressing girls or is it that you already know her? I wouldn't be surprised. You're both freaks after all."

"We may not know Hinata-chan all that well," Naruto said with a shake of his head, "But we won't allow you and your cronies make her life a living hell. I thought that you'd learn your lesson before when I saved Sakura-chan, but apparently, you just don't know when to stop."

"Yeah," Sakura said, nodding in agreement with Naruto, "Since you can't pick on me anymore, you decide to pick on someone else just to make yourself feel big."

"You're nothing but a scared little coward," Ino announced, putting in her two cents, "Only cowards do what you do because they can't accept that they're just like everyone else; they feel that they should be better than everyone else. That sums you up perfectly Ami."

Ami's rage immediately returned and… glaring at Naruto whom she blamed for her social life going downhill, she let out a loud hate-filled scream and charged him, ready to slam her fist in his face, but Naruto easily sidestepped her when she got close to her and stuck out his foot in her path causing her to trip and stumble forwards onward the pathway. Unfortunately at that very moment, a man was walking past carrying a cartload of manure to the Yamanaka Flower Shop that Inoichi had ordered to help some of the plants grow. Unfortunately, Ami stumbled right onto the cart and the added weight was just enough to tip the cart downwards causing the manure to fall right on top of Ami.

"Huh?" the man carrying the cart said, noticing that something was wrong and turned to see the manure he had been hauling on the ground and a blob that seemed to rise up revealing a very dirty, smelly and ticked off six-year-old purple haired girl.

"I ain't cleanin' that up," the man said as he held up his hands and backed away from the scene, obviously not wanting to get involved.

Ami immediately spun round and glared at Naruto with pure hatred burning in her eyes as she clenched her fists and gritting her teeth, seething with pure rage. Once again, Naruto had humiliated her horribly. Bits of manure stuck to her cloths, skin and hair, making it look as if she had been rolling around in a mud puddle and the smell that emitted from her… it was rather off putting.

"Eew, you stink!" Ami's two lackeys shrieked in unison as their hands flew up to their noses and they both ran away, abandoning their leader for a second time.

"You know, maybe we shouldn't hang around with her anymore," the girl out in front said, looking back at her friend, "It seems that Ami's now causing nothing but trouble."

Her friend just nodded in agreement, though she remained silent and they both continued to run out of the park, determined to get as far away from Ami as they possibly could as they decided that hanging around with Ami just wasn't worth it anymore.

Ami just watched them go with a look of pure and absolute shock on her face. Just like everyone else, her two most loyal companions had abandoned her. She had overheard what they were talking about and it infuriated her to no end. The two girls whom she had assumed would remain loyal to her through thick and thin, no matter what happened had followed the path of her so-called friends. She whipped her head back round to face Naruto, whom in her mind was responsible for it, giving him one of the nastiest ice-cold glares that she could muster.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screamed as she moved to lunge at Naruto, but Ino walked in front of Naruto and shook her head.

"My, my Ami, your head really is empty," she said with a hopeless sigh, "You brought that on yourself and as for targeting a Hyuga… I really hope for your sake that you didn't insult her eyes."

This little bit of information seemed to get through to Ami and aroused her curiosity as she calmed down somewhat, but from the look in her eyes, her rage hadn't vanished and even the slightest of things could set her off again.

"Why?" she said in a boastful tone, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest as if she try and look important, "Just look at them, they make her look blind. Like I said, she's a freak just like Whisker-face and Billboard Brow."

She then turned to face Hinata, who had been watching the situation with an astonished look on her face, unsure what to make of it. Upon noticing Ami's gaze, she let out a small eep and backed up onto the bench, curling into a ball.

"Isn't that right White Eyes?" Ami said, continuing her talk from where she left off, "Your eyes make you a freak of nature just like those other two?"

She motioned her head towards Naruto and Sakura, but Hinata had shut her eyes and was shaking her head and muttered to herself, though the words were so quiet they were incoherent.

Ino just glared at Ami, knowing that she was the cause of Hinata's reaction. However, she maintained her composure and decided to finish what she had started.

"You just made a big mistake Ami," she went on with an evil smirk etched on her face, "For you see, the Hyuga Clan take great pride in their eyes and if one was ever to become Hokage… well let's just say, if I were you, I'd fake my own death and flee the village if I wanted to remain alive."

Hinata looked up from her position at hearing Ino's statement, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" Ami growled in frustration, "Get to the point already. I don't have all day."

"What I mean is that the Hyugas consider an insult on their eyes as a capital offence and everyone knows that the clans all have their own set of individual laws. By insulting Hinata's eyes, your life is forfeit by Hyuga law and these guys don't care about the gender or age of the person that insulted them. If they catch you, you'll be strapped to a table, cut open while you're still alive and your insides will be ripped out and then they'll wave whatever they pull out in your face while you lie dying."

Hinata, Naruto and Sakura's eyes all widened at that last part. Hinata knew that the last part was just made up, since being a Hyuga herself she knew exactly how the clan conducted their executions. Basically they just sent someone out to assassinate the person and make their death seem like a tragic accident or the person would just mysteriously disappear never to be seen or heard from again. However, Naruto and Sakura didn't know that and were wondering how Ino knew of the Hyuga execution methods. Apparently Ami was not only clueless about the Hyuga Clan's execution methods, but had also been clueless about the Hyuga Clan's laws; not that it was mandatory for the village to know the laws of the individual clans, it was just that the Hyugas had chosen to make their laws public knowledge, possibly as a means to flaunt their power and intimidate people in order to make anyone planning on opposing them think twice before doing so. In short, the Hyuga Clan was not a clan to be trifled with. Even the Uchiha Clan; the only clan to rival the Hyugas in power were a bit intimidated by them, even if they were too arrogant and self-absorbed to admit it.

It took a few seconds for Ami to absorb everything that Ino told her and when she did, her expression changed from one of rage to one of mortified fear as images of herself being strapped to a table and being hung, drawn and quartered and having various organ waved in front of her face entered her mind. Ino smirked as she had gotten the reaction she had been hoping for. Five seconds later, Ami screamed and turned before running off after her two former lackeys.

"I don't wanna die!" she shouted with fear evident in her voice, so absorbed in her fear that she failed to hear Ino laughing like the whole thing was a joke.

"I guess her head really is empty," she said, struggling to contain her laughter, "Gullible to the point of stupidity."

"Ino-chan, how do you know about how the Hyuga Clan kills people?" Sakura asked curiously as she stared at her friend with a fearful expression on her face… fear that Ino knew too much about the Hyuga Clan and that it would put her life in danger.

"I don't," Ino said with a smile as she shook her head, "I made that last part up just to see how she'd react."

Naruto chuckled as he walked over to them.

"Yep, you were right Ino-chan, her head's empty," he said with a laugh, "Even emptier than an empty vase."

Ino just laughed at comment, noting the irony as she remembered that she once threw flowers in Ami's mouth saying that her head was so empty that she had mistaken it for a vase and decided to fill it with flowers. She also remembered telling Ami how the flowers she'd thrown were poisonous and Ami and her friends had run off screaming for Suzume. That had been the time that Suzume had introduced the class to flower arranging.

However, Naruto, Sakura and Ino all turned to the bench to find Hinata had come out of her ball and was looking at them unsure what to do. She looked apprehensive and from the looks of it, it seemed that Hinata was ready to curl back up into a ball.

"H-hey, Hinata-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked with concern written all over his face.

Hinata flinched as she stared back at him and then at the two girls. She didn't recognise either of them, though she could tell that the blonde-haired one was the heiress of the Yamanaka Clan, the clan she knew had chosen botany over psychology, which was what their jutsu centred round. However she didn't know the pink-haired girl who had the big forehead, though she suspected that she was a Haruno.

"Don't worry," Sakura said with a smile as she walked up to Hinata and bent over to smile in her face, "Ami won't bother you anymore and if she does, we'll be here to stop her."

Hinata just stared into Sakura's jade green eyes, unsure what to say. This was a major problem of hers. She had a major problem communicating with others. She was quiet and often found herself having to speak louder for others to hear her… something that she hated doing. The only person she could honest say she could have a coherent conversation with outside her clan was Yuhi Kurenai, a woman she had met not long after her mother died and who had become somewhat of a surrogate mother and second role model for her. Hinata had no problems talking with her and confided a lot in Kurenai, even her most inner-most secrets. However, when it came to anyone else, she would always use a quiet tone, though she was polite and always used suffixes when addressing people. It was part of her shy nature. Maybe it was because of her status as a Hyuga and the fact that the Hyuga Clan was both respected and feared within the village. Maybe she was afraid of other people's opinions of her just because of who she was or maybe it was the fact that as the heiress to her clan, people both out with and within the clan had such high expectations of her or maybe it was all those things put together. Nevertheless, Hinata had a major problem communicating with people, fearful of what they'd think of her because of her clan's status and her position in the clan.

"Ano… w-w-why d-d-did you s-save me?" she asked in a quiet tone as she looked down at her feet, clearly afraid of what would happen now.

"What do you mean, why did we save you?" Naruto asked, walking over to Hinata with Ino bringing up the rear, "That mean Ami girl was about to hurt you. Why wouldn't we help you?"

"B-because I'm n-n-not w-w-w-worth it," Hinata stuttered in a voice that was barely above a whisper; so quiet that Naruto didn't hear her.

However, Sakura heard since she was practically right up in Hinata's face.

"Not worth it," she said looking surprised, "Why would you think that?"

"B-b-because I-I-I-I'm w-w-weak," Hinata replied, still stuttering as tears started to well up in her eyes.

She brought her hands up to her eyes and wiped the tears away, but more tears formed and threatened to roll down the heiress's beautiful cheeks.

"Weak, who told you that Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, silently vowing to find the person and beat the forty colours of shit out of them as he clenched his fist.

"M-m-my f-f-f-father, my c-c-cousin and the e-e-elders on the c-c-c-council," Hinata replied, still trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes as they started to roll down her cheeks, "I'm the h-h-h-h-heiress of the H-Hyuga Clan and…"

She trailed off as she burst into tears and started crying uncontrollably, causing Sakura to take a seat next to her and she wrapped a comforting arm round her. Naruto and Ino witnessed this, both coming to the same conclusion as they knew what she was trying to say.

"You don't meet the clan's expectations, do you?" Ino asked simple as she let out a sigh.

Hinata shook her head and Naruto started thinking to himself.

"I d-d-don't," Hinata admitted, feeling more like a cornered mouse than anything.

Maybe it was her depression or maybe it was Naruto's presence… she didn't know, but at the moment she didn't care. She had decided to share her problems with Naruto and these girls and after a few minutes of crying and fighting to regain her composure, which was made easier with Sakura's comforting arm round her, she told them all everything how she had held back during her sparring sessions and how she was constantly berated for being weak because of it and how she poured her heart and soul into her training, only to have it all wasted when the voices started berating her in her head. She even divulged how the Hyuga Council was talking about replacing her with her younger sister, Hanabi.

Needless to say, the other three were shocked to hear this. They all knew about the Hyuga Clan and their strict no-nonsense and "don't mess with us" attitude. Expectations ran high in the Hyuga Clan and they had a zero-tolerance policy for failure. Unfortunately, Hinata didn't get with the program and because of it, she was shunned and berated and Naruto guessed that many people outside the Hyuga Clan had already developed their own opinions of Hinata because of her clan; something that she had no control over just like him with whatever it was the villagers hated him for and just like Sakura because of her oversized forehead. Her clan was probably another reason why Ami had chosen her as her new target and that annoyed him.

Sakura had similar thoughts running through her mind as she let Hinata rest her head on her shoulder. She knew that the Hyuga Clan were really strict and often wore emotionless faces. She had seen Hinata once or twice before at the academy, but unlike the rest of the Hyuga Clan, she didn't have the same emotionless look on her face as the others did. Hinata seemed to be shy and from what Sakura had seen, it looked as if Hinata was hoping that no one would speak to her and after hearing Hinata's story, she could have a good guess as to why. Hinata was like her in a way with people probably forming their own opinions of her because of her clan and her eyes would give them the perfect excuse for them to pester her just like Sakura's forehead had given bullies like Ami an excuse to make her life hellish. Only, unlike Sakura, Hinata's own clan frowned upon her because she was not like the rest of them. She was kind and gentle and was obviously looking out for her sparring partners' well being. Sakura didn't have anyone in her own family berating her for her faults. In fact, Fuhei had been quite comforting towards her daughter whenever she came home after being harassed. Hinata on the other hand suffered terribly at the hands of her own clan and Sakura could tell that it had destroyed her confidence just like Ami and many other bullies had destroyed her own confidence before she met Ino.

As for Ino, after hearing Hinata's story, she could honestly say that it was like meeting Sakura all over again. Like Sakura had been, Hinata was someone in need of help in building up their confidence. Only unlike Sakura, Hinata's "bullies" were her own clan and she knew that people probably made their own assumptions of Hinata as soon as they saw her eyes, since white pupilless eyes was what identified her as a Hyuga. It was like Naruto's situation with the villagers hating him because of something her had no control over and it was also like Sakura's situation with bullies picking on her because of her forehead. She knew that Hinata was in need of help and she was going to give it to her. Heck, it would also do Naruto a world of good, since it meant that he had a new friend and from what Ino could see, Naruto needed all the friends he could get. Beside, Naruto had already helped Sakura gain confidence. Maybe he could do the same for Hinata. She had seen Hinata around in the academy from time to time and she had noticed that she was often watching Naruto at a distance with a small, yet genuine smile on her face. Hinata no doubt admired Naruto and Ino could tell that she didn't see him the way the rest of the village saw him. It was nice to know that not everyone saw Naruto in a bad light. Her father didn't see Naruto in a bad light and apparently neither did Hinata.

"They want to replace with your sister," Naruto said, clearly outraged at the concept that Hinata put forward, "And why… just because you're not like them? Damn it."

Hinata jumped at Naruto sudden outburst as she saw his fists tighten and he glared down at the ground.

"Just who the hell do they think they are?" Naruto ranted on, "Damn it. I never really cared much for the Hyugas before, but to hear that they treat even their own like dirt just because that person happens to be different… I just can't stand that."

After a few minutes, Naruto's posture became less tense as he calmed himself down and then gave Hinata an apologetic look.

"Sorry 'bout that Hinata-chan," he said as he bowed his head in an apologetic way, "I just had to blow off some steam. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I-i-it's q-q-q-quite a-a-a-alright Naruto-kun," Hinata replied with a red tint forming on her cheeks, unable to believe that the person she had admired from afar for so long was actually speaking to her and she wasn't moving to try and distance herself from him and surprisingly enough, she didn't faint.

Maybe it was due to the circumstances of the situation, but in any case, Hinata knew that she couldn't get out of this one without talking to him.

"By t-t-t-the way," Hinata said as the redness in her cheeks increased and she turned to the side in an effort to hide her cheeks, "Thank you –f-f-f-for s-s-saving me Naruto-kun, e-e-e-even if I'm n-n-n-not w-w-w-worth it."

"Not worth it," Naruto said in a slightly annoyed tone, "Hinata-chan, don't go berating yourself just because of what those idiots in your clan said. Your main problem is that you believe everything they say. You go into everything expecting to fail and if you do that, you will fail. If I were you, I'd dedicate myself to proving them wrong. Take my situation for example. Everyone with the exceptions of a few hates me and I don't know why. However, I don't let that get me down. I may not know what it is they hate me for, but I'm going to prove 'em all wrong."

"I try, I really try, b-b-b-but the voices…" Hinata started to say.

"Just ignore them," Naruto cut in with a serious look on his face, "I know what that's like. Every night whenever I go to sleep, I always hear the voices of the villagers in my head hurling their insults at me, but I eventually learned to live with it and I now choose to ignore them. I know it's hard, believe me. However, you can't let those voices rule over your life otherwise you'll just prove to everyone just how right they are. If you seriously want to prove 'em wrong, then whenever you hear those voice, just shake your head and remember that you're out to prove them all wrong."

Hinata looked up at Naruto with a thoughtful look on her face as her brain processed everything he just said.

"That's right Hinata-chan," Ino said with a nod, "Don't let those stuck-up arrogant nitwits get to you. Take Sakura-chan for example. When I first met her, she was constantly being picked on because of her oversized forehead and to tell you the truth, she was truly pathetic, no offence Sakura-chan."

"None taken," Sakura responded to Ino's comment, waving it off like it was nothing.

"However, when she started hanging out with me, she started to open up and come out of her shell," Ino went on, "And now I think she can make it on her own."

"I also have Naruto-kun to thank for that," Sakura added, deciding that Hinata should know the whole story, "You see, that girl that picked on you, Ami. I was her previous target because, as Ino-chan said, I have this monstrous forehead. She was the first one to really start picking on me and the others after her just followed her example. My confidence, as Ino said, was pathetic. After hanging around with her for a while with her standing up for me, my confidence started to grow. However, Ami didn't give up in her quest to make my life a misery and six days ago when Ino was ill with a really bad cold, Ami cornered me, but then Naruto-kun came to my rescue. I owe him and I decided that I would become his friend. After all, is situation is kind of like mine. The villagers hate him for some unknown reason just like Ami and her cronies hate me because of my monstrosity of a forehead. We have that in common. Both of us hated and harassed because of things we never really asked for and I can tell that you're similar. Your clan don't like the fact that you're not like them, which you can't help and everyone else probably don't like you because of your clan, something that you also have no control over."

Ino nodded.

"That's right Hinata-chan," she said, adding in her two cents, "Sakura here decided that she would help Naruto-kun after he saved her from Ami and got to know him and I have to confess, that if it wasn't for Sakura-chan, I wouldn't have considered becoming Naruto-kun's friend. I was popular once and I let it go to my head. I turned a blind eye to Naruto-kun, believing that everyone hated him because of his pranks. I just listened to my friends and formed my own opinions. However, then Sakura-chan came and told me how he had saved her from Ami while I was suffering from my cold and because of that, I had a more open mind. I will admit, at first, I was sceptical. After all, my popular status normal meant that people like Naruto-kun were beneath me and I only agreed to go along with Sakura0chan because she was my best friend. However, when I met Naruto, my mom happened to be passing by and through her attitude towards him, I could no longer deny the truth. I had no idea that the villagers were constantly trying to kill him before, but my mother's intrusion only confirmed that what Sakura-chan had told me was true. I knew right there and then that I couldn't just leave Naruto-kun. He needed all the friends he could get. I could se it in his eyes… the pain and suffering he must've endured. I knew that I just couldn't let that go on. I had taken a lot of things for granted before, but since meeting Naruto-kun, I know that everything's not as simple as I led myself to believe they were. He was in need of help just like Sakura-chan had been and whether he realised it or not, he helped Sakura's confidence dramatically."

"Uh huh," Sakura said with a nod, "Thanks to both Ino-chan and Naruto-kun, I finally managed to stand up to Ami on my own, which was why she probably chose to torment you. I'm sorry about that."

Naruto smiled, though he was stunned to hear that he had indeed unknowingly helped Sakura with her confidence, but he put that aside and looked directly at Hinata.

"And we can help you as well Hinata-chan," he said, flashing her a fox like grin, "That is, if you want to be our friend. You look lonely and I know what that feels like and it's not something I'd wish on anyone, even if they were my worst enemy."

Hinata looked at Naruto, shooting him a stunned look. He wanted to be her friend? Surely this had to be a dream. She had always envisioned becoming Naruto's friend, but now that it was happening, she felt afraid that it was all just one big dream and that she was going to wake up.

"Y-y-y-you want t-t-to be m-m-my friend?" she asked with a stutter to which Naruto nodded.

"Of course Hinata-chan, you're kinda like me and Sakura-chan in dealing with problems that others pile on you due to circumstances beyond your control," he said and then his face became serious, "Though I must warn you, be prepared for the villagers when they learn that you're going around with me. Ino-chan's lost almost everything she once had, including her mother, who divorced her dad because he doesn't see me like the village does. I won't lie to you. You'll probably be in for the same kind of treatment I had to endure my whole life. Sakura-chan and Ino-chan already know this."

Hinata thought about it for a moment and then let out a sigh.

"I always admired you Naruto-kun," she said, looking Naruto right in the eye, "You seemed to always come through with a smile and you never gave up no matter what. I think it was because you were my opposite; everything I wasn't and wanted to be. I wanted to talk to you, but I was scared and didn't know what to say to you. So I kept my distance or I fainted. I'm sorry, but I just didn't know what I was going to say to you. I wasn't being like everyone else, I swear, I just..."

"Think nothing of it Hinata-chan," Naruto interrupted her with another fox like grin, "You're a nice person. That's all I need to know."

"Besides, you can rest easy now," Sakura added.

"You're no longer alone," Ino went on, "You have us now and we're going to help you overcome your lack of confidence and prove those stuck-up idiots in your clan wrong."

Hinata smiled as she looked around, seeing the smiling faces of Naruto, Sakura and Ino. She knew that they were truthful and that they would help her. She had always admired Naruto since the first day she laid eyes on him and she had to admit that when she first saw him with Ino and Sakura, she felt a bit upset that they were with him and she wasn't. However, the fact that they all had offered to be her friend caused this feeling to diminish somewhat, though she was still a bit upset that she wasn't the first one to become Naruto's friend. However the fact that Naruto, Sakura and Ino were willing to let her into their little group was better than nothing and that was something she could not deny. She knew through witnessing Naruto's pranks and beatings in the past that he was like her, lonely and friendless and that he needed all the friends he could get. It pained Hinata to know the awful treatment Naruto had suffered and all because it seemed like he was alive. The fact he now had friends seemed to be a miracle and even though Hinata wasn't the first to become his friend, she definitely wouldn't let that fact bother her. She was Naruto's friend now and that's all that mattered. She never felt more content than she was feeling right now.

* * *

**Glossary**

Genin – Junior Ninja (low-class ninja)

Kunoichi – Female Ninja

Ano – Um

Kekkei Genkai – Bloodline Limit (A type of jutsu or set of jutsu techniques that can only be learned by those in a certain family, in other words a jutsu that can only be learned through genetic inheritance and can't be learned by anyone out with the family)

Dojutsu – Eye technique

Byakugan – White Eye (Hyuga Clan's Kekkei Genkai)

Taijutsu – Martial arts (ninja hand-to-hand combat)

Jyuken – Gentle Fist

Keirakurei – Chakra pathway network/system

Tenketsu – Pressure points (Chakra points)

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**Author's notes **– I'm still alive and well and I do apologise for the long-awaited update. It's just that I got distracted and suffered from a massive dose of writer's block. I have to say that I'm pleased with the increase of reviews. One of them made me do an awful lot of thinking about how the story should go and one of the reasons for my writers block was that I got too ahead of myself and overloaded with ideas. Okay, so now that I've introduced Hinata, things can really start to pick up I realise that I may have overdone it with Naruto's life as far as beatings go and the story may seem depressing, but I intend to change that. As I said in chapter one, I have a tendency of blowing situations out of proportions, making them as bad as possible and on that note, I warn you that this story's version of Sasuke is going to be one of the most evil portrayals ever and I do mean evil and really delusional in his superiority complex over everyone else. By the way, who can say that they don't like Sakura in the pre-Shippuden era? I can honestly say that I didn't, always fawning over Sasuke "Oh Sasuke you're so cool" no matter what. My portrayal of Sakura isn't that of a delusional Sasuke fangirl and neither will Ino for that matter and they both won't be obsessed over Naruto to the point where they don't train either. I intend on making Sakura, Ino and Sakura stronger than their cannon counterparts in the anime and manga when they graduate and all three of them will be out to prove that not all kunoichi are lovesick delusional fangirls that care more about their "Prince Charming" than their ninja careers. By the way, in the latest manga chapter, Danzo revealed that he has the Sharingan in his right eye, though I believe that his situation is similar to Kakashi's since he keeps it covered. I could incorporate that into my story, but not until it's revealed how he got it. I mean in Nagato's flashback, Danzo's right eye was covered, but he may not have had the Sharingan then and was only hiding the hole in his eye and he probably acquired the Sharingan eye at a later date. Anyway, here's a question for you. How many people believe that pre-Shippuden Sakura suffers from short-term memory loss? I mean every time Sasuke rejected her in the beginning and said something harsh to her, she would always be left depressed until she saw Sasuke again in which case, her fangirl attitude would return and it would be like the incident earlier never occurred. I don't mean to bash Sakura, but her pre-Shippuden attitude in cannon is a bit of a downer for me. At least she gets better as time goes on and as for Sasuke; I'm unsure what's going to happen to him in the manga. I find it hard to believe that he's going to redeem himself since he's now decided to assassinate all five Kages (though it could just be a mistranslation since the spoilers stated that he was only targeting Danzo specifically). I wouldn't be surprised if he is going to kill all five Kages. I'm sorry, but after spending so long in darkness and with Madara pushing him further into it, I don't see how he can be saved (though Kishimoto could have Naruto pull off a miracle).


	6. Enter Uchiha Sasuke, the Dark Avenger

**Naruto –Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter Six – Enter Uchiha Sasuke, the Dark Avenger **

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

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"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

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**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

**Two years later**

Weaklings… that was the one word that ran through the mind of Uchiha Sasuke as he made his way towards the academy as everyone who passed him by gave him a polite bow and greeted him in a polite manner. However, the young eight-year-old Uchiha Heir just snorted them off in an uncaring manner, but otherwise just ignored them. They meant nothing to him, but then again, hardly anything meant anything to the young clan heir anymore, other than getting stronger so as he could avenge the destruction of his clan by killing the one responsible for it and that someone was… Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother.

As Sasuke made his way towards the academy, he couldn't help but think back to that horrible night when he came home to find his entire clan had been massacred and to his absolute horror and disbelief, his older brother, a person he had looked up to and admired his whole life admitted to being the culprit. He had found his brother standing over the bodies of their mother and father and Itachi had said that he killed them to test the limits of his own abilities.

At first, Sasuke just couldn't believe it. He remembered that all throughout his life, he had been seeking his father's acknowledgment and approval. His father, Fugaku had always spent most of his time concentrating on Itachi, since as his eldest son; Itachi was heir to the Uchiha Clan. However, Fugaku didn't seem to have a high opinion of his youngest son and mostly ignored him. After all, Itachi was a genius and a prodigy whose abilities were great, even for an Uchiha. Itachi had quite an outstanding record… graduating from the Ninja Academy when he was only seven, mastering the Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan's dojutsu Kekkei Genkai at age eight, becoming a chunin at age ten and joining the ANBU and ascending to the rank of captain when he reached the age of thirteen. It was clear that Itachi had been naturally gifted. Some of the clan had even commented that Itachi would eventually become unique in the Uchiha Clan, just like the clan's founder, Uchiha Madara had become. However, where as Madara had betrayed the clan in his insane pursuit of more power, the present-day Uchihas didn't think Itachi would follow the footsteps of their ancestor.

It was because of this that Fugaku, who was Clan Head, neglected Sasuke in favour of his older brother, claiming that Sasuke wasn't worth the effort. It was because of this neglect that Sasuke had pushed himself in the academy. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he was an Uchiha, he had developed a massive superiority complex, believing himself to be better than everyone else, even his senseis in the academy and the other adults. Arrogance was a trait that the majority of male members of the Uchiha Clan seemed to possess as if it were a genetic trait. This stemmed from the abilities of the Sharingan, which allowed the users to read their opponents' movements and made it easier to predict their next move. The Sharingan also allowed the user to analyse their opponents' jutsu, chakra etc and was effective in allowing the user to copy their opponents' jutsu and use the jutsu as if it where their own. The Sharingan also possessed hypnotic abilities, allowing the user to control their opponents' movements just by making eye contact with the unsuspecting person. The person would believe that that he or she was moving of their own freewill, but in reality, the Sharingan user was the one controlling their movements and since the Sharingan user was the one controlling the person, they could easily give off the illusion that they were seeing into the future. It was because of this that many of the Uchiha males allowed themselves to fall to arrogance, believing themselves to be gods among men. Heck, some ended up becoming so delusional that they believed that even the gods themselves should bow down and worship them. Anyway, Sasuke always acted like he was better than everyone and it didn't help matters that many of his female classmates thought that it made him look cool. Sasuke was the most popular boy in the academy among the majority of the female student body; many of those girls believing that Sasuke would choose to marry them and that he cared a lot for them.

Unfortunately, blind admiration is the emotion that is furthest from understanding and if those girls knew the real Sasuke and not the heartthrob they portrayed him as, they'd all realise that Sasuke really didn't care about anyone or anything other than himself and his goals. He didn't even care about the village or its rules. As far as he was concerned, as an Uchiha, he was above the rules. The Uchiha Clan had been the most powerful clan in all of Konoha as well as one of the two founding clans of the village. If it was not for an alliance between the Uchiha and their rivals, the Senju, Konoha would not have come into existence and with this knowledge in mind, Sasuke felt that the village owed the Uchiha Clan its loyalty, not the other way around. In other words, the village should be bowing down and kissing his feet and give him everything he wanted. In his mind, even the Sandaime was beneath him.

Anyway, Sasuke had trained hard at the academy, pushing himself to his limits to earn his father's acknowledgement. Unfortunately, Fugaku had just waved him off, and only compared Sasuke's accomplishments to those of his brother's despite the fact that Sasuke was a genius in his own right, scoring the highest marks in all his classes. Luckily for Sasuke, both Itachi and their mother, Mikoto were there to comfort him whenever he was depressed over his father's neglect of him. Sasuke remembered his mother once telling him that whenever she and Fugaku were alone, Sasuke was all she talked about. Itachi helped as well, though he developed a habit of poking his little brother on the forehead whenever he was about to leave. Itachi acknowledged him, though Sasuke couldn't help but feel a growing resentment towards his brother since he was getting the acknowledgement of the one whose acknowledgement he craved the most. Sasuke felt that if he could somehow manage to surpass his brother then his father would have no choice but to acknowledge him; something that Itachi was aware of and even encouraged him to do so. Sasuke had hated it when he discovered that his father had only attended his enrolment in the Ninja Academy because his brother had basically dragged him there. He could tell just by studying his father's body language that Fugaku didn't want to be there, believing it was a waste of time and that only served to strengthen Sasuke's resolve.

However, eventually Itachi had started to act strangely and it led to a deterioration in the relationship between him and his father and it was only then that Fugaku started taking an interest in his youngest son's training, though Sasuke knew that it was only because of the fact that Itachi and his father had had a falling out and Fugaku wouldn't even be acknowledging him if Itachi didn't start to distance himself from the rest of the clan. Sasuke's resentment of his brother grew, since it was only because of him that his father was acknowledging him, though he decided to make the most of it and used his father's acknowledgement to his own advantage; going so far as to master one of the clan's Katon jutsu, the Gokakyu no Jutsu, in just one week. In the Uchiha Clan, the Gokakyu no Jutsu was a coming-of-age jutsu, which meant those who mastered it were considered adults and thus allowed to bare the Uchiha Clan's emblem. It was a jutsu that most genin level ninja wouldn't be able to perform due to their lack of chakra, but Sasuke had mastered it and he hadn't even graduated yet, though the first time he tried, it had ended in failure and Fugaku had deemed that Sasuke wasn't ready to learn the jutsu, but a week later, Sasuke succeeded in impressing his father by mastering it and gave him a demonstration. Sasuke had had the acknowledgement from his father that he always craved, though he held an underlying resentment for Itachi because it was only because of the deterioration in the relationship between him and his father that had given Sasuke that chance. Sasuke continued his work at the academy with the hopes of someday surpassing Itachi and his father started teaching him what it meant to be an Uchiha, which unfortunately manifested as their arrogance and delusional beliefs that they were better than everyone else. His father's teachings only served to bolster his ego further.

However, one night after coming home late from the academy, Sasuke had been shocked to find all his fellow clansmen had been slaughtered. Just that very morning, he had become content with the way things were after a talk with his aunt and uncle. Sasuke growled as he remembered seeing his brother standing over the bodies of their parents and he remembered Itachi throwing shuriken at him and how Itachi explained how he killed everyone just to test the limits of his abilities and explained how his kind and caring self was nothing more than an illusion. Sasuke remembered how Itachi used his Sharingan to put him under a very powerful genjutsu in which he was forced to watch the slaughter of the entire clan over and over again and Itachi explained to Sasuke how he decided to spare him since he wasn't worth killing. Sasuke remembered trying to flee in a mad panic screaming how he didn't want to die. Itachi had gladly given Sasuke his wish, telling him to run and cling to his wretched life and he also gave his little brother a proper incentive to train to surpass him. He told Sasuke that if he was to have any hope of fulfilling his dream, then he had to hate and despise him and use his hate to make himself stronger.

"_Foolish little brother,_" Itachi's voice echoed in his mind, causing him to cringe, "_You're not strong enough; your hate's not strong enough. You've always wanted to surpass him, haven't you? Then hate me, despise me, use your hate to becoming stronger. Dedicate your life to trying to kill me and avenge our fallen clansmen._"

That was the mission that Sasuke had set himself since awakening in hospital the next day. He would train himself to become stronger and eventually he would find and kill Itachi, avenging their clan. If Itachi wanted him to hate him, then fine. He would do as Itachi wanted. He would use his hatred to make himself stronger. He would overcome all obstacles in his way. He was an Uchiha after all; part of one of the village's founding clans. Nothing was beyond his reach. The people were of little consequence to him... nothing more than sacrificial lambs in his quest for power. Sasuke cared not for the people, not for the village and definitely not for those delusional fangirls at the academy who believed that they were the future Mrs Uchiha. The only use those girls served was to inflate his ego even further. It didn't help matters that the majority of people had pampered him after the massacre; giving him praise for being the only survivor of the massacre and holding him in high regard. Since then, the people gave Sasuke everything he asked for, believing that he would someday restore the Uchiha Clan to greatness and had everyone's best interests at heart.

What they didn't know was that Sasuke could care less about them. All Sasuke cared about was gaining more and more power and everyone and everything else could go to Hell as far as he was concerned. Loyalty to the village… in his mind, the village should be loyal to him and bow down and worship the ground he walked on. The people meant well and yet, their gestures were not appreciated as Sasuke just snorted them off. They were all weak and Sasuke strongly believed in the philosophy of how the strong survive and the weak perish and in his mind, everyone in the village was or should be weaker than him. That was what he learned from his father; that as an Uchiha, he was indisputably entire levels above the rest of the village and that the rest of the village were nothing more than servants to the Uchiha… at least that's how Sasuke felt things should be.

Of course, he wasn't stupid; not by any means. He knew that he wasn't the strongest in the village. However, he had made it his mission to surpass everyone in the village. Those who were stronger than him he vowed to surpass before going after his brother. In his mind everyone was beneath him, even the adults and on the few occasions he had been pulled up for misbehaviour, he regarded the person with nothing but hatred and scorn… hatred that they dared to pull him… an elite Uchiha up, though he was smart enough to hold his tongue as he secretly vowed to kill the person scolding him as soon as he was strong enough to do so. He also vowed that if the village didn't help him in his quest for vengeance, he'd seek power elsewhere and then return to eradicate the village as punishment for their refusal to help him. He was Uchiha Sasuke, the Dark Avenger whose two goals consisted of primarily of killing Itachi and avenging his clan and then he would restore the Uchiha name, making it respected and feared throughout the world. He didn't care what he had to do to accomplish this; just so long as he got was he wanted, he could care less about the consequences. As an Uchiha, he could deal with them and rise above them. Sasuke vowed that he would gain what he felt he rightfully deserved even if he had to conquer the world. He vowed to gain so much power that even the gods themselves would tremble in fear and bow before him.

"Weaklings," Sasuke thought to himself as he walked by everyone that passed him by on the streets.

They were worthless to him. The Ninja Academy was just a means for him to obtain more power and he vowed that as soon as its usefulness expired, he'd show everyone just how powerful he'd become. He'd kill the senseis that dared pull him up for misbehaviour. He'd make his father proud. He remembered how his father had told him not to follow Itachi's footsteps if he wanted his acknowledgement. He wouldn't follow in Itachi's footsteps. He'd live by his father's teachings and he'd make sure the rest of the world knew his name.

He continued making his way towards the Ninja Academy with an evil smile on his face. Those fools really had no idea what they were about to bring upon themselves. He was an Uchiha and he would be denied nothing. One way or another, he would achieve his goals, even if he became an evil monster and had to sell his soul off to the Devil to do so… and then he'd stab the Devil in the back once he fulfilled his usefulness before it came time for him to hold up his end of the bargain.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the academy, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Hyuga Hinata were making their way inside with happy content look on their faces. In the two years that all four had been friends, they had all become really close. They still had to deal with the hatred of the villagers, but since Hinata joined them, the majority of villagers had decided to leave them alone due to Hinata's status as a Hyuga as many had mistakenly believed that since Hinata was hanging out with the "demon" spawn, he had the support of the Hyuga Clan and everyone knew that the Hyuga Clan were not the sort of people you'd want to mess with. Many feared angering the Hyuga Clan as they knew just how the Hyugas vented their anger. Even when Naruto, Sakura or Ino were alone, the people just wouldn't touch them, as they feared Hinata would bring the wrath of the Hyugas upon them. Of course there were a few brave souls who ignored those circumstances and tried to attack them anyway, but Naruto, who was still receiving training from Kakashi, dealt with them and scared them off. Things were definitely looking up, even if the only reason the villagers hardly ever touched him was because of their fear of the Hyuga Clan and they thought that he had their support.

As for Hinata herself, Naruto, Sakura and Ino had helped her confidence grow dramatically. No longer was she the weak useless failure she once was. Her performance and skills with the Jyuken had increased dramatically as she had gone on to defeat some of her sparring partners and those she didn't manage to beat; she managed to last a lot longer against and she had noticed her father raise an eyebrow on a few occasions on his otherwise emotionless face, a sign that he was impressed and Hinata knew that her father wasn't a man that was easily impressed. Of course, there were still those who believed that she was a failure regardless of her improvement. Her cousin Neji was one such person. He dismissed her improvement as nothing and still maintained his view that she would still fail no matter what. However, remembering what Naruto had told her, she had eventually learned to shrug it off.

Of course the clan knew about her friendship with Naruto. It was impossible to keep that a secret and yet, no one from the clan had acted on it. They still ignored him and turned a blind eye to his association with their heiress despite the fact that many villagers believed that Naruto had the clan's support. However, no one from the clan had come forward to clarify the situation. It was almost as if the villagers' mistaken beliefs weren't there to begin with. Maybe they didn't know, though Hinata doubted that. At first she believed that many in the clan were hoping that her association with Naruto get her killed and then they'd be rid of their "disgrace". However, the villagers all developed the mistaking notion that Naruto had support from the Hyuga Clan and yet, no one from the clan came forward to deny this. When she told her father about Naruto and her friendship with him, he had just nodded, but other than that did nothing. She honestly didn't know what was going on with the clan. They clearly knew about the false beliefs that Naruto had their support and yet, they treated it as if it didn't exist. Maybe it was because they felt that it wouldn't cause them trouble or maybe they were just using those false beliefs as a means of intimidation to show off their power. The Hyuga Clan did enjoy flaunting their power and Hinata wouldn't be surprised if they were now using Naruto to do this. In any case, it didn't change how the villagers all felt about him and those who hung around him, but at least the villagers left them alone, though Hinata couldn't help but feel that it was wrong that the villagers were only leaving them alone due to the Hyuga Clan and the Hyuga Clan were possibly using her association with Naruto to show off. Of course, she wouldn't end her friendship with Naruto, but she couldn't help but feel like horrible that her clan could be using Naruto. How no one discovered the truth during those two years was beyond her, but then again, no one dared challenge the Hyuga Clan, especially now since the near-extinction of the Uchiha Clan.

"…And then Ino came up to me as I was crying my eyes out," Sakura was saying as Hinata came out of her thoughts.

She was busy telling the story of how she had met Ino, unaware that Hinata had been absorbed in her thoughts.

"I don't think your forehead makes you look ugly Sakura-chan," Hinata said, deciding to speak up to cover up the fact that she hadn't been listening, "I think it makes you look beautiful. It's big, but not in a hideous way."

Sakura's cheeks turned a shade of red as she blushed in embarrassment, though she was touched that Hinata had complimented her forehead instead of insulting it.

"Uh huh," Naruto said with an agreeing nod, "I told you before, you just wouldn't be you without it Sakura-chan."

Ino nodded.

"That's right," she said in agreement, "You just wouldn't be you without that big forehead of yours. It's not monstrous or anything like it."

She tried picturing her friend with an average-sized forehead, but when she did, the image in her mind just didn't seem right to her. Something looked out of place and to be honest, in Ino's opinion, if Sakura did have an average-sized forehead, she'd look a bit ugly, though she'd never say that aloud.

"And you wouldn't be you without your eyes Hinata-chan," Sakura said with a smile, "I'll admit that before I met you that the eyes of a Hyuga creped me out before, but since meeting you and getting to know you, I've come to see that they make you just as, if not even more beautiful than me."

Hinata's cheeks turned red as she blushed with embarrassment.

"T-thank you Sakura-chan," she said in a quiet tone.

Naruto smiled as he looked at the three girls who had become his friends. He had to admit that he also had a disagreement with the villagers' mistaken beliefs that he had the support of the Hyuga Clan. Even though it gave him relative peace, the fact that that peace was due to untrue assumptions didn't sit right with him. He wanted to earn the villagers' respect and he knew that it didn't change the villagers' feelings towards him. However, the only thing that prevented him from coming forward and revealing the truth was because he knew it would put Sakura, Ino and Hinata in danger and knowing how some of the Hyugas still felt about Hinata, he wouldn't be surprised if they only allowed her to socialise with him in the hope that she'll meet her end at the hands of the villagers. It sickened him that a clan would use him as a means to get rid of their black sheep or that they were possibly using the villagers' mistaken notions to bolster their egos.

However, before he could ponder on this further, he turned back to face the way he was going, only to be violently shoved to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going dobe," the person that had violently shoved Naruto to the ground said, causing Naruto to glare up at him as he knew who it was.

The boy was about Naruto's age with dark bluish black short hair styled like a duck's butt and he also had cruel cold onyx black eyes that seemed to take great delight in Naruto's predicament. He wore the same dark blue sandals mostly everyone else wore, light brownish white shorts and a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with a red and white emblem on the back designed to resemble a fan with the red at the top and the white at the bottom.

"Teme," Naruto growled as he picked himself up, all the while glaring at the boy.

He knew who this was; Uchiha Sasuke, the heir to the Uchiha Clan and the biggest pain in the ass Naruto had ever met. If there was anyone that Naruto could honestly say he hated beyond a shadow of a doubt, Sasuke would be at the top of the list. He couldn't stand Sasuke's attitude and his belief that he was better than everyone else. That infuriated him to no end and to make matters worse, Sasuke had developed this nasty habit of rubbing it in everyone else's faces, especially Naruto's since he had been the academy's dead last before he started training with Kakashi. He had improved since then, but Sasuke constantly berated, calling him dobe regardless. Unlike everyone else, Sasuke didn't hate Naruto because everyone else did. In truth, Sasuke didn't care much for Naruto or why he was hated. He just liked bullying him because it made him feel good about himself. That much Naruto knew. Sasuke was basically a male version of Ami when it came to Naruto and the reason for Sasuke picked on Naruto was due to his lack of skills in the beginning and despite showing improvement, Sasuke still berated Naruto just because he felt that he could.

"Yeah, watch where you're going," Sasuke repeated, shooting Naruto a boastful smirk as if to say, "I'm better than you, so deal with it".

Naruto growled. He could see it in Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke had shoved him down on purpose, probably because he felt like it. That was the thing about Sasuke, he felt that he could get away with anything just because of his clan's status and it didn't help that he had the backing of most of the academy's female student body and the villagers who held him in high regard and praised him. The only use Sasuke had for them was to inflate his already overinflated ego even more. Of course, Naruto knew about the massacre of Sasuke's clan, but with everything Sasuke had put him through coupled with the pain that the villagers put him through his own life, Naruto couldn't help but have a sense of indifference towards the Uchiha Clan. True, no one from the Uchiha Clan aside from Sasuke had bothered him in the past or had shown that they were on the side of the villagers, but none of them had stepped in to help him out either, at least as far as he knew. Naruto felt nothing for the loss of Uchiha Clan apart from apathy since he knew how many of them acted and Sasuke himself was a living example of it. Unfortunately, the loss of his family had made Sasuke even worse around his classmates and Naruto couldn't help but notice that since he came back to the academy after the slaughter of his clan, he could sense something dark about Sasuke; something that had not been there before. Sure, Sasuke was still his usual annoying "I'm better than you all" self, but Naruto knew that something was different about him. Sasuke had become more short-tempered and picked fights with his classmates for no apparent reason other than minor insignificant things like he once told this brown haired boy that he didn't like the way he looked at him when the boy had only shot a brief, uninterested glance his way. Naruto cringed at the memory. He remembered that whenever Sasuke was pulled up for his violent behaviour that he would always give his scorner a disapproving look. Naruto knew the look Sasuke would give the adult. It was a look that Naruto himself was all too familiar with. Sasuke believed that as an Uchiha, he was untouchable and he looked down on everyone, the academy senseis and other adults include. It was clear that Sasuke considered everyone else in the village as being beneath him and from the look Naruto remembered Sasuke giving the sensei that had pulled him up for his behaviour… it was the look of a hunter that had just marked his prey like the villagers that had attacked him so many times in the past. Naruto knew that Sasuke would get the person back someday. Of course, Sasuke was smart enough to remain silent and always hung his head as if in defeat, but Naruto could see Sasuke's true feelings in his eyes as he glared at the person scolding him. Naruto only hoped that the academy would pick up on this because he knew that if things went the way they were going right now, then Sasuke would probably eliminate half of the senseis in the academy just to satisfy his injured pride.

"Whatever," he said with a shrug, coming out of his thoughts, deciding not to confront Sasuke as he moved to walk past him.

In all honesty, he wasn't in the mood to confront him and he knew that confronting him would land him in trouble. When it came to him, the academy senseis always took Sasuke's side, aside from Umino Iruka. The senseis didn't like Naruto and since sabotaging his education was now pointless, they skulked around looking for every opportunity they could find to make his life hellish. Besides, it didn't really matter with Sasuke. The Village Council always managed to get him off the hook anyway or at least the civilian portion of the council did. They held Sasuke in high regard and basically saw him as their next Hokage and as far as they were concerned, Sasuke's record was spotless and he could do no wrong in their eyes. The Civilian Council always intervened when it came to Sasuke's punishments for lashing out and he only got away with a slap on the wrist and a "Don't do it again". Naruto just couldn't believe it. Sasuke was arrogant, boastful and so full of himself that it was unreal. He needed to know his place and yet, the Civilian Council turned a blind eye to Sasuke's violent temperament; treating it like it didn't exist. Their "precious" Uchiha was immaculate and pure. He wouldn't do those things. The fault was that of the boy he was fighting. That was the Civilian Council's message. It disgusted Naruto to no end.

"Hey," Sasuke said in a demanding tone as he marched in front of Naruto and glared in his face, "Apologise dobe."

"Alright, I'm sorry I bumped into you Your Greatness," Naruto replied in a sarcastic tone, causing the three girls behind him to giggle, "I should have watched where I was going, but I'm just stupid."

Sasuke's eyes flashed with anger at Naruto's witty reply. He didn't want Naruto apologising. He wanted to fight. He was bored and had nothing to do, so he decided to test himself against Naruto. If there was one person in the world Sasuke could say that he hated next to his brother, Naruto would be that person. At first, he had chosen to berate Naruto just for a laugh and to vent his frustrations due to the fact that Naruto seemed to always mess up on performing even the simplest jutsu. However, somehow, Naruto had started to improve and though Sasuke would never admit this, even to himself under pain of death, he had started to feel his status as the academy's number one student was coming under threat and that infuriated him greatly. To him, Naruto was a nameless nobody who didn't deserve to improve. He was the dead last in the academy and he wasn't supposed to get better. People like Naruto belonged in the trash with all the other rodents and germs and the fact that Naruto was proving him wrong infuriated him for Sasuke was a person who would not alter his beliefs to fit the world. If he could, Sasuke would alter the world to fit his beliefs and he vowed that once he avenged his clan, he would do just that. To him, surpassing an Uchiha was an unpardonable crime. Naruto was nothing compared to him and he was going to prove it.

Apparently, Naruto could sense Sasuke's anger and knew right away that he was itching for a fight.

"Just great," he thought with a groan, "Looks like I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

"Look teme, I'm not interested in a fight," he said, moving to walk by him.

"What the matter dobe, scared?" Sasuke taunted with a smirk.

However, Naruto just shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm scared," he said in an uncaring tone, "You're an Uchiha and I'm a worthless nobody. I wouldn't last a single second against your awesome skills."

Sasuke's mind immediately flooded with rage at Naruto's dismissal as now he was seeing red. He was an Uchiha and Uchihas always got what they wanted no matter what and right now he wanted to fight and he would get a fight.

He lunged at Naruto with a balled fist ready and brought it forward. However, Naruto just sidestepped Sasuke, causing Sasuke to stumble as he was lunging forward and his fist missed its target and the surprise caused him to keep moving and he fell to the ground as Sakura, Ino and Hinata looked on, having remained silent all this time.

"Hey Ino," Sakura said as she turned her head to face her friend, "Did you ever like that boy?"

Ino just nodded with a regrettable sigh.

"Yeah, but so did you," she said, turning to face Sakura, "Remember, I was there when you told our friends that day."

* * *

**Four years ago**

_Five-year-old Sakura ran up to her new friends in a rather excited mood. She had just found someone that she liked and couldn't wait to tell everyone the great news. It rather excited her. The boy she liked seemed to be handsome and good looking and his cool mysterious attitude made him seem cool in Sakura's eyes._

"_Hey guess what everyone, I've something to tell you," she said in a rather excited tone as she raised her arms high above her head at a diagonal angle, "It's a secret, you'll never guess who I like; never in a million years."_

_The two girls just stared at Sakura, with rather uninterested or uncaring looks on their faces._

"_So just tell us already," the girl to Sakura's right said in a dismissive tone._

"_Just don't say that it's Sasuke," the girl on the left asked in an equally dismissive tone, clearly already knowing that that was who Sakura was referring to._

"_What?" Sakura said in a rather disappointed tone; disappointed that her friends had been able to guess her crush right off the bat, "H-how did you know?"_

"_Oh that's easy," the first girl said in a more interested tone, "Sasuke's like the most popular boy ever."_

"_He is?" Sakura asked curiously before bursting out in joking laughter, "Well, I guess that means I have a lot of competition, don't I?"_

_Ino, who was not that far away standing off to the side with another girl turned to look at Sakura with a slightly surprised look on her face after hearing what was said. In truth, she liked Sasuke to and being as popular as she was, she saw herself as the number one favourite to win Sasuke's affections. The fact that her newest friend liked him as well was a bit disturbing to her and she shot Sakura a small glare of jealousy._

"_Wow, what an improvement," the girl next to Ino said, commenting on Sakura's increase in confidence, "Sakura's really come out of her shell, hasn't she?"_

"_Huh?" Ino said as she looked at her friend, acknowledging that she had heard her before turning to glare at the ground like a child taking a temper tantrum._

"_Sometimes I'd wish she'd get back in it," she muttered to, mainly to herself rather than her friend… commenting on her disapproval of Sakura's crush on the boy she had a crush on._

* * *

**Present**

That had been two years before they had met Naruto and they both had to admit that back then, they had both gone along with the in-crowd. Sasuke was very popular due to his status as a member of the most powerful clan in Konoha and ever since the massacre, his popularity had increased dramatically since as the last survivor of the clan aside from his brother, who was the one responsible for the massacre, he was the sole heir to the Uchiha Clan and many of the academy's female student body wanted to help him in restoring his clan.

For Sakura and Ino however, since meeting Naruto and everything that had happened since then, both had completely forgotten about their crushes for the Uchiha heir. Seeing the pain and suffering that Naruto had to endure… they just didn't think about Sasuke anymore. They were too busy with Naruto to even mention him and in a way, meeting Naruto had opened their eyes and both girls could now honestly say that they absolutely despised the Uchiha heir. It had been through Naruto that they were able to see Sasuke's true colours and it had been a shock to them both. It had been shocking to see Sasuke just waltz up to Naruto and bully him for no apparent reason. They had just been minding their own business and Sasuke had come up and started berating Naruto for no reason and from Naruto's response, Sasuke had obviously done this before and even more shocking, some of the girls that just so happened to be passing by at the time had actually joined in, obviously looking to score points with Sasuke and as much as both girls hated to admit it, they couldn't help but see themselves as those girls and knew that had it not been for meeting Naruto and gaining an understanding of him before hand, then they'd have probably been among the girls who joined Sasuke in his torment of Naruto… the reason being in the hopes that he'd notice them in the hopes that he'd choose them as his wife someday.

It had been an eye-opener to both girls and through Naruto, they saw Sasuke for what he really was… an arrogant stuck-up snobbish little bastard that didn't care about anyone other than himself. They had seen his total disregard for the girls that blindly fawned over him other than to boast his ego. Those girls were blind and stupid, the two former Sasuke fangirls thought to themselves and neither could deny the fact that if not for Naruto, they would have become just as stupid and delusional as the rest of them and both girls couldn't help but wonder if their friendship would have suffered because of it. Neither Ino nor Sakura could picture themselves becoming bitterly hated rivals, but both had to admit the possibility that their desire to be with Sasuke could potentially have led to their friendship falling apart.

Sure, Naruto was now the most important boy in both their lives, but unlike Sasuke, Naruto cared for them both and enjoyed their company. Because he spent time with both of them and all three of them along with Hinata spent their time together, plus the fact that Naruto had been more than prepared to severe his friendship with Sakura in order to preserve Sakura's friendship with Ino back when he believed that Ino would reject him, neither Ino nor Sakura could consider fighting each other over him. They both knew that Naruto cared for them both and it would upset him greatly if they through away their friendship over him. They knew that it would devastate him to no end if they both started fighting over him and with this in mind, they were able to preserve their friendship as well as maintain their friendship with Naruto and Hinata. Opening their eyes to Sasuke and the potential consequences that chasing after him could have had was another thing that they were thankful to Naruto for. They had both honestly confessed that they had at one point considered him as their "Prince Charming". However, Naruto had just dismissed it, saying that it was in the past and that he knew that they both could see the real Sasuke and not just the illusion that many of the girls had created for themselves. However, both couldn't deny that Naruto could potentially become a flashpoint in their friendship in the future as both girls liked him.

As for Hinata, she never really had a good opinion about Sasuke. She wasn't one of those that had gotten with the in-crowd. She had been too busy admiring Naruto to pay Sasuke any attention unless it happened to be interactions between Naruto and Sasuke and after witnessing Sasuke's cruel treatment of Naruto, she could honestly say that she despised him. It was a well known fact in the village that the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan never really saw eye to eye and had constantly been at loggerheads with one another since the Uchiha Clan's greatest rivals, the Senju Clan had dissolved into village populace. The main reason for the Hyuga Clan replacing the Senju Clan as the Uchiha Clan's greatest rivals was due to unconfirmed rumours that the Uchiha's prized Sharingan was an evolution of the Byakugan. Even though there was no proof to prove or disprove this claim, the Uchiha Clan took offense to those rumours, as like with everyone else in their minds, the Hyugas were beneath them and the concept, regardless of whether or not it was true that their "greatest" treasure descended from something they viewed as inferior angered them greatly.

However, it was Sasuke's treatment of Naruto that angered Hinata and not the fact that Sasuke was an Uchiha. In truth, Hinata could care less about her clan's affairs. Whether or not the rumours about the connection between the Byakugan and the Sharingan were true or not didn't really matter to Hinata. Sasuke's treatment of Naruto was appalling… that all three girls could agree on and all three knew that Sasuke wasn't influenced by the rest of the village. They knew that Sasuke didn't care much for the villagers' attitude towards Naruto and the main reason he picked on Naruto was simply because he felt that he could. To Sakura and Ino, he was a male version of Ami and to Hinata, he was a physical manifestation of all the reasons why some people didn't like noble clans. He reminded her of her cousin, Neji, who also believed that he was better than everyone else. Neji was quite powerful for his age and regarded as a genius and prodigy in his own right. Hinata knew that her cousin was stronger than her despite her being heiress to the clan and he enjoyed rubbing it in her face whenever he had the opportunity to do so. However, Sasuke was countless times worse than Neji. Where as Neji targeted her specifically, Sasuke would just target people at random and then boast about how he was better than them. It really infuriated Hinata.

Anyway, Naruto walked on leaving Sasuke lying on the ground and the three girls just passed him by without so much as giving him a second glance and that really enraged Sasuke. How dare they brush him off like he was just a lowly common peasant? He was from one of the founding clans of Konoha. They should be bowing down to him and worshipping him like a god. He was a god among men; heck, a god among gods. He was destined to become so powerful that he'd make the gods themselves seem like mortals in comparison. He'd show them.

"Hey, don't just walk away from me," he called out after them, "You're supposed to acknowledge your betters."

"Betters," Naruto said as he stopped, though he did not turn round to face Sasuke, "You live in a fantasy world teme. You're not as great as you think you are. Heck, even Hinata-chan's cousin could beat you in a fight."

"DON'T COMPARE ME WITH THOSE DISGUSTING WEAKLINGS OF THE HYUGA CLAN!" Sasuke practically screamed with rage, "I'M A GOD!"

"And we liked this guy," Ino said aloud, shaking her head in disgust as she thought back to how delusional Sasuke's fangirls were and how she could have been one of those fangirls.

"I know, it's shocking," Sakura said in agreement, shooting Sasuke a nasty look, "I'm glad we were able to come to our senses before we reached the stage that many of those girls chasing after him are at now. I bet if I was still chasing him, it would eventually lead to my downfall."

She cringed at her own statement, fearing that it could have proved to have become more true than she could possibly ever have realised.

"Just ignore him," Hinata, shaking her head as she waved Sasuke off, "He's not worth it."

Sasuke immediately shot the three girls a hate-filled glare of pure rage as he started to see red. How dare they insult like him like that? They were supposed to fawn over him like most of the other girls did. They were worthless and weak and didn't deserve to insult him.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE YOU WRETCHED WEAKLINGS!" he bellowed as he started running towards them, looking to punch one of them in the face, "YOU'RE WEAK BECAUSE YOU'RE GIRLS!"

That one comment caused Naruto to cringe as he slowly but surely turned round to see what was going on. Sasuke had stopped in his tracks as even Naruto could feel the combined killing intent radiating from the three girls. It must've been frightening if it caused Sasuke to stop, Naruto figured as he knew that Sasuke wasn't easily scared or surprised.

"You've done it now Sasuke-teme," he said in a serious tone devoid of his usual carefree and joking undertone, "You should know the meaning of the saying, "Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned". I really wouldn't want to be you right now."

Sakura let a brief smirk creep onto the edges of her lips at hearing Naruto's comment before she went back to glaring at Sasuke.

"You want to say that again," Ino said in a surprisingly calm tone, though the anger in the undertone was clearly evident.

Sasuke just stood there, his rage evaporating to be replaced with a feeling that he hadn't felt since that horrible night he came home to find his clan had been slaughtered; fear. He opened his mouth to talk, but he just couldn't force the words to leave his throat and he shut his mouth and opened it again, and shut it… he was like a gaping fish out of water… too shocked to say anything or even gather his thoughts together. From the way the three girls stared at him, their eyes felt like daggers piercing his flesh. For a few minutes, nothing happened. The silence was deafening and the tension was so thick, one could cut it with a knife. Sasuke just stood there gaping as the separate killing intent from each girl merged together, paralysing him with fear.

Naruto cringed as he envisioned the beating Sasuke was about to receive. He had learned long ago by hanging out with those three girls that getting on their bad side was a mistake. Sure, he himself never got on their bad side, but he had witnessed the beating that some of the other children received when they rubbed the girls up the wrong way, usually they were coming to his defence after the person decided to pick on him. He nodded to himself. Yeah, underestimating those three was a costly mistake and Sasuke was going to find that out the hard way.

Sakura suddenly took a step forward as she started cracking her knuckles and Ino and Hinata followed suit.

"Pick a body part girls," Sakura said as she scanned Sasuke's body with a devilish smirk on her face, "And Hinata, feel free to use your Byakugan."

"**I'm gonna pound your diseased cranium into mush, Shannaro!**" Inner Sakura said furiously as she appeared surrounded by an aura of fire as she shot a frightening venomous glare directly at Sasuke.

Hinata, who along with Ino was unaware of Sakura's inner-self's threat, nodded as she performed a series of hand seals and channelled her chakra into her eyes, sending a shockwave through them. The veins at the side of her eyes bulged to the point of becoming clearly visible and the outline of her irises and pupils also became visible though her eyes were still the same white colour. The outline of her irises took on the form of a series of small straight lined scribbles that went round in a circle and inside the circle, the outline of her pupils appeared as a faintly and poorly drawn circle. Other than that, her eyes were still white and Sasuke had to admit that staring into Hinata's Byakugan-charged eyes that she looked downright frightening especially with her eyes filled with rage and hate directed solely at him. All he could do was gulp as Sakura lunged towards him, leading the attack and she swung her fist towards Sasuke's face, causing him to fall to the ground as the fist made contact and Naruto cringed at hearing a small crack, indicating that Sakura had broken Sasuke's nose.

"Ouch," he said turning away from the scene for a brief moment before he slowly and rather reluctantly turned back to see what was going on.

Sakura, Ino and Hinata then all rushed Sasuke and started to rather violently stomp on him with the majority of their stomps suspiciously finding their mark on Sasuke's crotch, causing Naruto's hands to automatically fly over and covered his own crotch as he continued to watch Sasuke's humiliation.

"Sure glad that's not me," he though, sighing with relief, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a beating by three really angry girls out to introduce him to a world of pain.

After a few minutes of this, the three girls stopped and moved back and Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, her eyes returning to their usual look. As for Sasuke, he had his hands clutching his crotch as he winced in pain, unable to believe that those three girls had just humiliated him in such a degrading manner.

"Try restoring your clan now," Ino said as her eyes travelled to his battered crotch, "I'm not sure how babies are made, but I know that you need what's down there in order to do so and I think we just put an end to any chances you had of becoming a daddy."

Sasuke was too busy wincing in pain and rolling from side to side to have been listening to Ino, but he did catch that last part.

"Guess the so-called great Uchiha Clan really aren't that great after all," Sakura said with a mocking laugh, "Or maybe they are and you just ended up drawing the short straw."

"**Shannaro! I guess that's possible,** Inner Sakura put in a boastful tone as she shot Sasuke an arrogant smirk."

"That's enough," Naruto said in a serious tone, interrupting the three girls and their denouncement of Sasuke, "Let's go. I'm sure the teme has a lot to think about."

The three girls nodded, noticing from the look on Naruto's face that it was more of a command that a suggestion. Obviously he felt that enough was enough and they certainly weren't going to argue with him. After all, since he had been on the receiving end of that kind of abuse for his entire life, Naruto knew when to call it quits and the three girls agreed. After all, they didn't want to become just like the villagers and they knew that had they continued with Sasuke, that was what would have happened; they'd just be as cruel and unforgiving as the villagers were to Naruto, only it was Sasuke on the receiving end of their abuse and as much as they all felt he deserved it, they knew better than to push it.

"Sorry Naruto-kun," Sakura apologised with a heavy sigh, "Guess we just got carried away."

"Think nothing of it girls," Naruto said as he turned towards them and flashed one of his fox like grins, "The teme had it coming. Just don't overdo it. Ever since his clan was wiped out, I just get chills thinking about him. I don't know why or how, but I can sense something dark… almost evil about him that wasn't there before."

The three of them then continued on their way leaving Sasuke rolling on the ground with his hands caressing his crotch as he writhed in agony as he fumed over the humiliation the three girls had dealt him and he was attracting quite a crowd.

* * *

However, not that far away, unbeknownst to Naruto or any of the three girls, a lone Hyuga had watched the whole thing transpire and nodded to himself as he watched Hinata's performance. In truth, he really had nothing against Hinata and was pleased that she was finally showing signs of improvement and he hoped that someday, she would become a great clan head and end the long-lasting internal feud that had plagued the Hyuga Clan since its formation.

Unfortunately for him, he had orders to follow and his orders to keep an eye on Hinata and report back on her improvements and that was something he hated. Sure, Hinata had shown tremendous improvement in the last two years, but to a few, she was still considered a black sheep and their were those on the Hyuga Council who viewed her kind and caring nature as a threat to the Hyuga Clan's traditions, fearing that Hinata would do away with those traditions and end their way of life. The spy knew that Hinata hated the division in the clan and wanted to bring it to an end and it was that one dream that many on the Hyuga Council feared. They were quite happy with the division and were willing to keep it, consequences be damned. To those people, Hinata was a threat and the spy feared that they may decide to eliminate her since she was no longer the cowardly weak little girl she once was. The Hyuga Council had seen Hinata's reluctance to hurt sparring partners in the beginning and had deliberately destroyed her confidence, knowing that it would give them the excuse to replace her and Hiashi, who was head of the clan was oblivious to the whole thing. The council had deliberately berated and beat down Hinata, knowing that it would lead to an inferiority complex, hoping to keep her weak in order to replace her, but now their plan was under threat. Hinata had grown a spine and stood up to them, causing their blood to boil. They had too many things going for them to let Hinata's increase in confidence and improvements get in the way.

"Senkei-sama's not going to like this," the spy said, shaking his head as he gave Hinata one last sympathetic glance as she disappeared into the academy building.

Out of all those who opposed Hinata's views, Hyuga Senkei, the most influential man in the clan second only to Hiashi himself was the most open and most adamant about Hinata. The spy knew that Senkei was not a man anyone would want to mess with. Sure, he hid his true views on Hinata well and claimed that her improvements had come too little too late and that she was a lost cause, but Hiashi was hearing none of it. He had rescinded his decision to replace Hinata with her younger sister, Hanabi and that had angered Senkei greatly and what the spy was frightened of was that he knew that Senkei was the sort of man that would go to extreme lengths to get what he wanted, even if it meant going behind Hiashi's back and he knew that Senkei could possibly have Hinata killed rather than see all his plans go up in flames.

"Forgive me Hinata-sama," the spy whispered to himself, "But I am bound by Senkei-sama and must carry out his wishes."

He then turned and was about to make his way back to the Hyuga compound.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu!" a female voice shouted out, causing the spy to stop and look around.

However, before he could comprehend what was going on, he noticed a tree had started to grow behind him at his feet and at an alarming rate. However, what terrified the spy was that the tree also seemed to sprout branches underneath his armpits and grow round his shoulders and then reattach to the tree's trunk. Panic set in as the spy struggled to free himself; momentarily forgetting that he was under a genjutsu and could easily release himself from it and counter his attacker. However, before he had a chance to get his bearings, the upper torso of a woman seemed to come out of the tree's trunk just above the spy. The woman wore a red shirt with a green ninja vest over it and had a hitai-ate tied round her forehead, signifying her as a kunoichi She had long shoulder-length darkish greyish brown hair and crimson red eyes so distinct that they could easily be mistaken for a dojutsu. The woman also had a kunai in her right hand and had it poised, ready to slit the man's throat.

"I do apologise Hyuga-san," the woman said with a sigh as she gave him a genuine sympathetic sad look, "I have no personal quarrel with you, but I cannot allow you to supply that bastard Senkei with the excuse he's been looking for to eradicate Hinata-chan."

With that said, she brought the kunai down and slashed the spy's throat, severing his windpipe as the tree disappeared leaving the woman standing behind the spy as the spy's eyes widened before he started coughing up blood. He took a few steps forward before he fell to the ground, dead, though he trembled for a few second as a twitching motion.

The woman, Yuhi Kurenai shook her head as she looked down at the body. She knew that she would have to dispose of it and quickly. They were out in the open and Kurenai had been rather fortunate that no one had happened to come across her while she had carried out this vile act… not that she wanted to, but she just felt that she had to in order to save Hinata since she knew about Senkei and his desire to get rid of Hinata.

She picked up the spy's body and performing a few hand seals, she seemed to make herself and the body she had hoisted over her shoulder vanish. She wasn't Konoha's number one genjutsu mistress for nothing. When it came to genjutsu, Kurenai was one of the best users the village had. She could rather easily shield herself and dispose of the dead man's body, causing the man to effectively disappear never to be seen or heard from again. She then let out a sigh.

"I'm very sorry for this Hinata-chan," she thought, shaking her head, "However, with people wanting you dead, there must be sacrifices to ensure your safety. Damn that Senkei and his twisted views."

She then jumped to the nearest tree branch and then started making her way to an isolated spot outside the where she could dispose of the body without being discovered. She shook her head, knowing that what she was doing with horrible, but she didn't see any other choice in the matter. She knew that this would weigh heavily on her conscience, especially since the man she had killed had nothing against Hinata. However, he would have reported his findings to Senkei and Kurenai was not going to allow that madman to cause the death of someone whom she had grown to love like her own daughter.

* * *

**Glossary**

Teme – Bastard (also an offence way of saying, you i.e. Damn you and can also be used as a suffix)

Dobe – Dead last

Sharingan – Copy Wheel Eye (Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai)

Hand Seals – Certain shapes that ninja create with their hands to use jutsu. The jutsu depends on the head seals and the order of those hand seals

Genjutsu – Illusionary Techniques (Manipulation of the five senses)

Katon – Fire Release

Gokakyu no Jutsu – Great Fireball Technique

Magen: Jubaku Satsu – Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death

* * *

**Author's notes **– Well that took a bit longer than I had anticipated. I had a small case of writers block this time, but I managed to get back that spark. Anyway, this chapter was mainly just introducing Sasuke into the story and I realise that my portrayal of him may be over the top. However, I've read many fics portraying Sasuke as a bad guy and they seem to be over the top as well (no offence to those authors). However, rather than just have Sasuke wanting to become all-powerful just for revenge, I decided to throw in a little extra… Sasuke's delusions of his superiority being because of his father's teachings. I probably have created one of the most evil Sasukes ever. As time goes on, he'll fall further and further into darkness and I added the beating scene because I wanted a sense of irony as in cannon, Sakura and Ino were the worst of Sasuke's fangirls and I couldn't help but have them beat Sasuke and I also wanted them to realise the potential consequences had they remained loyal Sasuke followers. Well I was hoping to cover more in this chapter, but I really want to limit the length of each individual chapter. However, what wasn't covered in this chapter will be covered next chapter, including the real reason why the Hyuga Clan won't come out and clear the misunderstanding with Naruto up and more about Senkei. Also, Naruto will meet and interact with boys as Sakura, Ino and Hinata's friendship with him cause some of the younger generation to re-evaluate their views of Naruto and the true feelings of those who in cannon are part of the rookie nine will be revealed. I've also gone back over a few chapters and corrected mistakes and spelling errors I missed (the ones that I noticed). I also added two terms I missed to chapter one's Glossary.


	7. Life improvements, New friendships

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter seven – Life improvements, New friendships**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

The woman sat in the confines of her own home. Sitting in the kitchen with her elbows rested on the table and he hands clasped underneath her chin, she silently cursed the failure in her plan involving that wretched "demon" child. It was past midnight and the woman sat in the dark as she pondered on her next course of action. However, she did not shout or scream; neither did she throw the contents of her house around in a rage. No, she would not bring herself to that level. Beside, her daughter was upstairs asleep and the last thing she wanted was to bring unwanted attention upon herself from both her daughter and everyone else. Fortunately for her, she knew how to manage her anger. As a former kunoichi, she had learned to exact extreme patience as sometimes while on missions in the past, she sometimes had to wait days, even weeks to complete the assignment she had been given and she also knew how to improvise should things not go as planned.

However, in the past two years, things had gone horribly wrong for her. The wretched boy had befriended three girls, two of which were heiresses to two well-respected clans of Konoha; the Yamanaka Clan and the Hyuga Clan. The Yamanaka Clan, unlike the Hyuga Clan were not all that particularly wealthy and they certainly did not have the same noble status as the Hyuga Clan did, but they were still a well-respected clan throughout Konoha and even had their own seat on the village's Shinobi Council. The Yamanaka heiress did not concern the woman in the slightest. In truth, she could care less for the blonde-haired little hussy. In fact, the girl's association with the boy and her father's approval to it had tarnished the Yamanaka Clan's reputation somewhat, though the only reason Yamanaka Inoichi was still alive and still retained his council seat was because of the fact that he owned the only flower shop in the village and his wife had cleared off after discovering that her daughter had made friends with the "demon" spawn and Inoichi had the support of the rest of the shinobi council since hardly any of them went along with the general populace with regards to the boy. Many of the shinobi council either supported the boy or simply just didn't care what was going on with him.

What did concern her though was the Hyuga heiress, Hinata. It was mainly because of her befriending that wretched boy that her plans had gone up in flames. Many of the villagers had mistakenly believed that the boy had the support of the Hyuga Clan, which was a load of bullshit. The woman knew that the Hyugas were among those who didn't care about the boy. As far as they were concerned, so long as he didn't bother them, they would leave him alone. However, what surprised her was that none of the Hyugas had come forward to deny those mistaken notions, which had her seething as she cursed the boy's very existence. Why wouldn't the Hyugas just come forward to clear everything up? She had a good idea as to why; after all, she was on the Shinobi Council herself despite having retired. However, she had been required to take up her late husband's seat until her daughter came of age in which she could sit on the Council herself. She had a fair idea of the Hyuga Clan and how they operated.

She had pondered the prospect of doing away with the two heiresses, but she had quickly dismissed that possibility, as she believed that they could be of use to her alive. After all, she wanted to devastate the boy and what better way than to cause his closest friends to betray him? Besides, she knew that killing Hinata would bring the wrath of the Hyuga Clan down upon her. She knew that some of the Hyugas were adamantly opposed to Hinata because of her beliefs, but since she had met that disgusting boy, many had started to accept her and even though there were still those who would believe that she'd be doing them a favour be eradicating their greatest threat, the woman knew that those people were in the minority and couldn't win against those who accepted their heiress. The possibility of the Hyuga Clan on her case was downright frightening to her and she knew that if anyone had the resources to trace anything back to her, the Hyuga Clan were at the top of the list. They could easily find out who killed their heiress without too much effort, so she had reluctantly elected to leave Hinata alone. Of course, Danzo and his band of ANBU ROOT could also trace her, but unlike with the Hyuga Clan, she had information about Danzo that could incriminate him and label him as a traitor and she had warned Danzo in the past that if anything happened to her, then the information she possessed would go public and that kept him at bay.

In the two years since she had tried to push the boy down the path of hatred and revenge, she had kept a low profile. Sure, the boy had told the senile old coot about her, but since the boy hadn't looked up at her when she had spoken to him, he couldn't give the Sandaime a description of her and therefore, the old coot was powerless. The Sandaime had tried tracking her down, but with no leads to go on, it was a futile task. After all, the boy was the most hated person in the village. The ANBU simply just couldn't go around looking for women acting suspiciously round him. Half the village's population were women and they hated him. Many had stalked him in the past looking for an opportunity to kill him, only to chicken out at the last minute for fear of being caught and would constantly try again only to chicken out each time and as for her… she had observed him since their meeting that 10th October, though she had been careful in the past. She always escaped the ANBU's notice, even when they did see her as they probably just assumed that she was a passer by and in a busy place like Konoha, people tended to pass by each other all the time. However, she had always been sure not to observe him too much so as to avoid suspicion. The Sandaime's hunt for her had been a lost cause. Of course, since she hadn't approached the boy since then, the Sandaime had eventually just passed it off as a one-off incident, assuming that she had just given the boy advice, not caring whether or not he'd take her up on it.

"How wrong you are you senile old fool," she thought to herself with a smirk; smirking at the fact that the person the Sandaime had been trying to find had been right under his nose these past two years and he was none the wiser.

She knew that the three girls had thrown a wrench in the works that were her plans. However, she would endure and continue her quest to bring the "demon" boy down. She just wasn't sure how to go about it yet. However, she would think of something. It could be another few years before her plans yielded results, but it was something she was willing to go through with. In a way she kind of admired the boy's willpower and that helped calm her down somewhat. Her self-appointed mission was to kill the Kyuubi container and the longer that moment was postponed, the greater the ultimate satisfaction.

She stared at a picture sitting on the table... most of which was shrouded in the darkness of the room, but the far left corner was illuminated buy the streetlight outside that shone all the way across from the front of the house behind the woman's house and through a gap between houses. The part of the photo illuminated was that of a redhead girl about twelve-years-old with short hair and light blue eyes, wearing a pair of dark blue sandals, dark blue shorts, a white shirt and a hitai-ate tied round her forehead. In fact, at first glance this girl one could easily mistake this girl for a boy. However, the woman knew that this "boy" was really a girl and she sneered at the girl's image, giving it a disgusted look.

"You must think this is really funny, don't you?" she said to the girl's image in a seething tone that sounded eerily calm as memories of the girl flooded her mind, causing her hands to ball into fists as she shot the girl in the photo a venomous glare of pure hatred and revulsion, "Even though you're dead, you still continue to laugh in my face and ruin my life through that disgusting disease of a boy you call a son. I'll be the one who'll end up having the last laugh this time… and to think that we had been placed in the same team together all because the guys who arranged the teams mistook you for a guy. Sad, isn't it that your son will meet his end at the hands of your former teammate, eh Uzu-mesu?"

* * *

**One day later (after Sasuke's beating)**

Inuzuka Kiba stood out in the courtyard of the ninja academy eating his lunch along with Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Aburame Shino, who pretty much stood off to the side as if he wasn't really part of the group. Despite this, all four of them were standing watching Uzumaki Naruto and the three girls that had befriended him two years ago. All four watched in awe as the three girls and one boy ate lunch together and happily chatted away. One day previously, the three girls had been responsible for giving Uchiha Sasuke, who in their opinion was the biggest pain in the ass in all of Konoha a beating after he said that their weakness was due to their gender. Boy… that was the biggest mistake he ever made. Apparently, he had tried to pick a fight with Naruto and Naruto had clearly tried to avoid a confrontation, even going so far as to pretend to praise Sasuke, though Sasuke had obviously wanted a fight, as he had lunged at Naruto anyway and Naruto simply sidestepped him, causing him to fall and the three girls… two of which had been Sasuke's fangirls at one point simply pointed out facts about Sasuke and Sasuke responded by lunging at them and commented on how they were weaker than him because they were girls.

Kiba smirked as he remembered witnessing it. He had just been passing by when he noticed Naruto sidestepping Sasuke. In truth, Kiba had enjoyed watching Sasuke get his ass handed to him by three girls as he remembered how Sasuke had once picked a fight with him before when all he did was just glance briefly in Sasuke's direction. He hadn't even noticed Sasuke, but Sasuke decided to pick on him anyway. Kiba did not like Sasuke one bit. Like Naruto, he couldn't stand Sasuke's "I'm better than everyone else" attitude and it irked him every time he heard Sasuke rub it in someone's face. He was half-tempted to go and pound the crap out of the egotistical idiot, but he refrained from doing so, knowing that Sasuke had the protection of the civilian portion of the Village Council. He remembered after the fight Sasuke started with him that the Civilian Council had interfered when Sasuke had been pulled up for it and placed the blame at his door. In fact, he remembered his mother coming home after a Council Meeting, as the Inuzuka Family was a clan and as head of the clan, his mother, Tsume was a member of the shinobi portion of the council. Anyway she had come home that day in a foul mood after the Civilian Council had berated her on her son's behaviour towards their "precious" Uchiha. Of course, Tsume knew the truth, but the Civilian Council would hear none of it and had made her life hellish in the weeks following the fight. It infuriated Kiba to no end that Sasuke was getting praise that he did not deserve. It only made his superiority complex worse and as far as Kiba was concerned, it was about time someone knocked the arrogant little bastard off his high horse.

As for his feelings towards Naruto… he did have a growing respect for the boy. At first, he, like Sasuke had viewed him as a talentless loser who was just wasting his time. He remembered back to one class three years back when Naruto was told to demonstrate the Henge no Jutsu by transforming into the Sandaime. His attempt had been absolutely pathetic as he looked the Sandaime, though it looked as if someone had punched him in the face and everyone, including Kiba had laughed. However, Naruto just glared back at them and vowed to become Hokage someday and that he wouldn't be pretending. Of course, Kiba had just scoffed, believing it to be impossible and even voiced his opinion to Naruto, but Naruto just vowed to prove everyone wrong.

Ever since Naruto started improving, Kiba couldn't help but have a growing respect for him. Of course he knew about the villagers and their awful treatment of him and at first, he had just shrugged it off and listened to the other children's parents. His own mother, as well as his older sister, Hana never really hated Naruto. In fact, Tsume had at one point tried to adopt him since he was an orphan, but the Civilian Council had intervened and stopped the proceedings, though Kiba didn't know why. His mother would not say anything about it other than the Civilian Council felt that it was for the good of the village. Kiba's father though had been on side with the villagers and had been one of the ones who hated Naruto. It got so bad that Tsume's disagreement with him over Naruto had scared him off, as the Inuzuka Clan were known for their animalistic behaviour and Tsume had a fierce reputation for her feral behaviour. Even Kiba himself was a bit intimidated by her. However, Kiba couldn't say that he hated Naruto since his father cleared off because of him since Kiba and Hana never got on well with their father anyway. Their father had wanted his eldest child to be a boy and he had been open in his disapproval of his eldest being a girl. In short, he hated Hana because she was a girl and his eldest child because he wanted his eldest to be a boy and he hated Kiba for not being born before his sister; so when he left, the Inuzuka children had been glad to be rid of him since he treated them like dirt. However, Kiba had overheard some of the other children's parents telling their children to stay away from Naruto and like the other children, he had blindly followed those orders despite the fact that they didn't come from his own mother, who ironically wanted to help Naruto.

"You know guys," he said looking at Naruto as he was re-evaluating his opinion of him, "I don't think that he's the monster that the adults seem to believe him to be."

He remembered hearing that the adults seemed to hurl names like "monster", "demon" and "hell-spawn" at Naruto and at first, he believed it to be true, but after witnessing Naruto and his interactions with the three girls for the past two years, he had slowly come to realise that the adult were wrong. A monster would not show kindness to others and Kiba had seen how Naruto had shown the three girls kindness and he even defended them when they were in trouble with the villagers. Heck, if Naruto was a monster, Kiba doubted that he would have tried to avoid a confrontation with Sasuke and apparently the other three boys agreed with him as they all nodded their heads, even Shino who stood there, seemingly devoid of emotion.

Shino had to admit that although he didn't know Naruto very well, he could sort of relate to him in a way. He didn't know why Naruto was hated, but he had a feeling that they were both sort of alike. After all, as a member of the Aburame Clan, Shino was basically a living hive with a breed of insects known as Kikaichu living inside him. He had been infused with those insects shortly after birth like all members of the Aburame Clan. The Kikaichu live have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. The insects are allowed to use the person's body as their home and in exchange, the host is allowed to control the insects and get them to do their bidding. It was because of this that the Aburame Clan specialised in tracking and espionage, since they could communicate with the Kikaichu and could understand what they were saying. Unfortunately, because of this, the Aburame Clan in general were looked down upon by the villagers and they were often creped out just being in the presence of someone from the Aburame Clan. Shino knew this as in the past whenever he walked through the village, people had given him a wide berth and shied away from him, keeping their distance, obviously grossed out that he had bugs living inside his body. Even though no one ever talked down to him, Shino couldn't help but feel somewhat alone. Unlike Naruto, Shino hailed from a respected clan and that combined with the fact he had bugs living inside him; bugs that were pretty deadly when used in combat, no one dared voice their opinion of the Aburame Clan for fear of being attacked by their bugs, but Shino could see it in their eyes… the uncertainty and fear the villagers held for him. Because of it, Shino, like many in his clan had developed a cool, emotionless and stoic personality that gave him an air of mystery about him. He was cool, collected and solitary and combined with his mysterious vibe; it did little to help improve his image in the eyes of the villagers.

Of course, Shino acted like this didn't bother him and his appearance often fooled everyone around him into believing it, but deep down, Shino had this longing for companionship. No one would go near him and those he did business with obviously didn't like being in his company, as he could tell by their body language. He couldn't help but see the contrasts between him and Naruto, though unlike Naruto, the villagers weren't open about their disapproval of him and definitely didn't try to kill him at every opportunity they got. Naruto had had it far worse than Shino ever did. What bothered Shino the most was that he couldn't seem to get near girls without creeping them out. Because of his bugs, they always made excuses to leave and then make a run for it. Naruto didn't have that problem. With the treatment Naruto had endured his whole life, it was a wonder to Shino that he was still alive despite the constant lynch mobs out for his blood before Hinata befriended him and her status as heiress to the Hyuga Clan stopped those mobs altogether. Heck, it was a wonder that Naruto didn't resort to suicide or ran away and even more impressive still, how Naruto was able to hang on to his sanity and not dedicate his life to making the villagers suffer for his mistreatment was something that Shino felt he possibly could never understand and it earned Naruto Shino's respect.

Unfortunately, like Kiba, he had gone along with what everyone was saying in the beginning, though he left Naruto alone. His clan were pretty much neutral on the whole thing, those his father, Shibi had expressed his sympathy towards Naruto for the life that he had to led, but other than that, Shibi had just shrugged his shoulders, claiming that there was nothing they could do to help him. Shino had been apathetic towards the whole thing, listening to the other children's parents when they told their children to stay away from Naruto and that's exactly what Shino did. He never had any interactions with Naruto in the past, believing that whatever it was that the villagers hated him for was not his problem, though he did disagree was the villagers' mistreatment of Naruto. However, since he felt that it wasn't his problem, he just dismissed it and left Naruto to fend for himself.

Now however, he found himself regretting coming to those assumptions. Seeing Naruto with the three girls did make him a tad jealous since girls couldn't seem to stand his company, other than the girls from his clan, but it was the fact that Naruto had made friends and shown them kindness that really moved Shino. He had come to the same conclusions at Kiba and now he felt that he was sorry for his cold indifference to Naruto in the past and the fact that Naruto was still sane and not plotting to destroy the village earned Naruto an awful lot of respect from Shino. If someone like Naruto, who Shino deduced must be hated for something far worse than what he had to deal with could make friends, then he could possibly make friends to and he decided to start with Naruto himself as a way of making up for his past indifference.

"I have to concur with you there Kiba-san," he said in agreement with Kiba's statement, though given his emotionless stature and stoic attitude, his tone sounded rather uncaring, but then again, that was just Shino.

He always sounded like he didn't care about the subject at hand whenever he spoke even when he did care. The other three boys had come to know this trait

As for Shikamaru, when it came to Naruto, like Shino, he had pretty much ignored him in the past, but then again, Shikamaru tended to ignore almost everything round about him due to his lazy attitude. In his opinion, everything, even the most mundane and minor tasks, such as going into the kitchen to get something for his mother was troublesome. He preferred to just lie back and watch clouds roll by rather than do any work no matter how easy the task was. That summed up Nara Shikamaru perfectly. If there was a record for the laziest person in Konoha, Shikamaru would be the number one favourite for that title. In his eyes life in general was troublesome. His laziness affected his grades at the academy, causing him to score even worse than Naruto had scored in the beginning in the written tests. Now Shikamaru was smart; really smart. In fact, he was so smart that he made most geniuses seem average. However, like with everything else, he felt that writing the answers down was troublesome, even if it was just one-word answers, even though he clearly knew the answers right off the bat as soon as he studied the question. Instead of answering the questions on the test, he had just fallen asleep, clearly not caring whether he passed or failed. Heck, some of the academy sensei had started to wonder whether or not Shikamaru cared if he graduated or not.

However, when it came to Naruto, like Kiba and Shino, he had listened to the other children's parents when they warned their children to stay away from him, but in truth, back then Shikamaru could cared less about why the villagers hated Naruto and had only gone along with the in-crowd because he felt that opposing them would be troublesome. As far as he was concerned, Naruto was not his problem and like Shino had done, he left Naruto to fend for himself believing getting involved would be troublesome no matter which side he took and decided to remain neutral to the whole affair.

His parents however; now they were a different story. His father, Shikaku was strongly opposed to Naruto's treatment despite the fact that he himself was just as lazy as his son. The Nara Clan was one of the families that had a seat on the village's Shinobi Council and Shikaku had expressed a desire to adopt Naruto, but both the Civilian Council and his wife, Yoshino had stopped him. Shikamaru didn't know why the Civilian Council had intervened, though he heard his father grumbling on how they were a bunch of arrogant bastards. However, he did know why his mother objected to Naruto's adoption. In truth, Shikamaru felt that his mother was such a nag and a total bitch, but like Shikaku, she didn't view Naruto the way the villagers did. However, she had prevented her husband from adopting him because she feared backlash from the villagers… that adopting Naruto would destroy the Nara Clan's reputation and she also feared that she would be attacked for her support of Naruto. It wasn't that she didn't like Naruto or anything like it, it was just that the fear of the ramifications adopting Naruto would have on the Nara Clan terrified her to no end and Shikaku, being the lazy person that he was had caved into his wife like always since he felt that arguing with her was too troublesome.

At first, Shikamaru had dismissed the whole thing as troublesome like always, but he did notice that Naruto had made friends with Sakura, Ino and Hinata. He knew who Ino was through his father's association with Ino's father and Choji's father, Choza. Heck the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clan heads had all been on the same genin team and was nicknamed the InoShikaCho and they had built a reputation as one of the best teams within Konoha. Anyway, he knew who Ino was and it was through this that he had come to see the true extent of the villagers' treatment of Naruto and needless to say, he had been shocked and appalled. Unlike Shino, he had no idea of the degree of Naruto's treatment and once he discovered what was really going on, he had looked into it, dropping his usual lazy persona and had been shocked to discover the beatings and attempts made on Naruto's life in the past. He had discovered it when he had been passing the local butchers and he noticed the butcher charge Ino who happened to be passing by armed with a meat cleaver with the intent on ending the young heiress's life and screamed how she was a "demon whore". However, Naruto had intervened and managed to fight the deranged butcher off, but he remembered hearing the butcher's infuriated screams and the names he hurtled at Naruto and screaming on how he should have been killed the second he was brought into the world.

It had been an eye-opener for Shikamaru. However, he had been too nervous in the past to approach Naruto and had just observed him. Needless to say, it didn't take long for him to deduce that the adults were wrong about him. He wasn't any of the things the adults accused him of being. He wasn't a monster, demon or whatever else the adults called him and he was also smart enough to know that the majority of the other children only stayed away from him because their parents told them to. That sickened him that the other children blindly followed their parents' lead without asking questions, though he had to admit, he was no better since he had went along with it himself since he felt that the consequences of befriending Naruto would be too troublesome. However, he didn't join them either, also believing it to be too troublesome. He knew how the villagers viewed anyone who befriended Naruto and what he had seen almost happen to Ino was testament to that and he deduced that on some level, he had also been afraid to befriend Naruto in case the villagers came after him for his association with Naruto. Like Shino, he had wondered how Naruto was able to cope with such treatment without developing a hatred for the village. Heck, it was a wonder that he didn't run away or commit suicide. That earned Naruto a great deal of respect from Shikamaru.

"You're absolutely right," he said, nodding in agreement with Kiba and Shino, "No monster would ever risk his life to save another."

Choji nodded as he looked at Naruto conversing happily and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. In truth, he understood what it was like to be alone and friendless. As a member of the Akimichi Clan, Choji was naturally overweight since the Akimichi Clan's jutsu revolved around their weight. Because of this, Choji was often looked down upon by the other children. Because of his weight, he was no good at the game, "ninja", which was a combination of tag and hide 'n' seek with cardboard shuriken. Basically the children were pretending to be ninja. However, because of his weight, Choji lacked the speed and stamina for the game and the other children deduced that the team with Choji in it would lose and eventually, after this was proven right time and again, the children eventually refused to let Choji play altogether, though Shikamaru had pointed out that not letting Choji play would cause an imbalance, but the other children didn't care and refused to let him play regardless, dashing the small shred of hope that Shikamaru had given him. That had upset him greatly and when he confided in his father, Choza had told him that he would someday meet someone who would get along with him and that they'd become best friends. Eventually, Choji met Shikamaru, whom he recognised as the boy who had stuck up for him before. Shikamaru had decided not to play with the other, claiming that it was troublesome and had come to watch clouds and he mentioned that Choji was sitting in his spot. Choji had moved over, allowing Shikamaru to take his spot and offered him snacks to which Shikamaru agreed and from then on they became best friends. Shikamaru had been that person his father had been talking about and it was even better since his father and Shikamaru's father had a long-standing friendship themselves along with Yamanaka Inoichi, Ino's father.

However, in the past, much to his shame, Choji had pretty much gone along with the villagers. Sure, his parents never went along with the villagers, but like the others, he had listened to the parents of the other children when he had overheard them telling their children to stay away from Naruto. However, unlike Shino or Shikamaru, hearing the adults referring to Naruto as a monster and a demon had made him afraid of Naruto… afraid that Naruto would kill him if he saw him and so, like Shino and Shikamaru, he steered clear of Naruto for fear that if he tried to hurt him then Naruto would kill him. Shikamaru's lazy attitude over Naruto didn't help matter. Choji remembered Shikamaru telling him to forget about it since it was all just too troublesome in his opinion, but then again everything was troublesome to Shikamaru and so, he was no help.

As for his parents, they didn't see Naruto like the rest of the villagers did and like Tsume and Shikaku, had tried to adopt him, but the Civilian Council had intervened, stopping the proceedings and when Choji heard this, he had concluded that if the Village Council didn't want him to be adopted then he must be bad despite his father's claims to the contrary. His father had tried explaining to him how Naruto was not a monster and that the villagers were just stupid, though he could tell that his father was clearly hiding something and it only served to fuel his fear of Naruto. His father wouldn't tell him why the villagers hated Naruto and avoided the subject whenever Choji had brought it up. Choji had deduced that it was something that the children were not meant to know and it only made him fear Naruto even more. After all, who would be able to sleep soundly at night knowing that there was a monster living in your village?

However, two years ago, Naruto had befriended Haruno Sakura, a girl whom Choji knew was constantly teased because of the size of her forehead and someone whom he felt he could relate to since like Sakura, he was picked on because of his weight. At first, Choji didn't know what to think. The person who he had come to fear had actually managed to befriend someone and from what he saw, they got on pretty well along with Ino, whom he knew due to his father's association with her father and Hyuga Hinata, the shy heiress who before would rather no one paid her any attention. This had caused him to seriously re-evaluate his views on Naruto and seeing how well the four got on together, he slowly came to realise that his initial views had been wrong and after listening to Naruto whenever he spoke, Choji had come to realise that Naruto was like him in a way. He was shunned and looked down upon just like Choji had been, though Choji had to admit, no one had tried to kill him because of his weight and he had listened to Naruto and was shocked to discover that even Naruto himself didn't know why he was hated so much. However, Choji knew that whatever it was the adult hated him for… that they were wrong about him. Like Shikamaru had said, a monster would not risk his life to save another and he recalled how he had just happened to be passing by when Naruto had saved Sakura from Ami.

Sure he hadn't intervened, but he had just been passing through and had observed from a distance and truth be told, he was glad to see that someone put that snobbish prissy girl, Ami in her place. Ami was another thing that Choji felt that he and Sakura had in common. He had sometimes been the target of Ami's bullying, though unlike Sakura, whom Ami had sought out specifically, she had only harassed Choji whenever she happened to come across him. However, the result was equally as devastating. Shikamaru had rushed to his defence in the past just like Ino had done with Sakura and Ami was usually sent running off with her friends. However, she would always come back. Choji had been pleased to see Ami knocked down a few pegs. It definitely deflated the purple haired girl's ego as many of those whom she saw as her friends had abandoned her, mainly because of their fear of Naruto and of the prospect of becoming his next target. Choji had also been present when Ami had tried to seek out a new target in Hyuga Hinata and again, Naruto came racing to the victim's defence, only this time he had Sakura and Ino, whom had lost everything she had because of her decision to befriend Naruto backing him up and it had ended in another humiliation for Ami and the remainder of her friends, even her two most loyal companions who had hung around with her constantly had abandoned her. Since then, Ami didn't bother anyone since those she had targeted had become confident enough to stand up to her. However, it did make Ami rather cold and bitter and even though she didn't bother anyone, she shot most of her former targets cold chilling glares. Not that Choji cared or anything; after all, thanks to Naruto, Ami had no one to push around and even if the other children didn't realise it, Naruto had helped them in gaining the confidence to stand up to one of the worst bullies in the academy and because of that, Choji felt that he was indebted to Naruto for dealing with Ami.

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I once thought that he was a monster to," he said with a sigh, shaking his head, "However, if not for him, that purple-haired banshee would still be prancing around the place like she's more important than everyone else."

The other three nodded, knowing that he was referring to Ami and though none of them had seen what had gone on with Naruto and Ami in the two occasions they had met, they knew that Naruto had been a factor in knocking Ami off her high throne and caused her to come crashing down to reality. In fact, Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru had their own quarrels with Ami… Kiba because of his clan's association and likeness to dogs, Shino because of his clan's association with insects and Shikamaru because of his laziness. Ami had always found some way of bringing those aspects up in the negative and teased them about their respective aspects. If it was the one thing they could agree on, it was that because of Naruto, Ami was out of commission and they were all grateful to him for that.

"I say we go over and say hi," Choji said in an excited tone, "Who knows, maybe he'll let us be his friends."

"Uh huh," Kiba agreed with a nod, "He can't be bad. I mean, he shows kindness to those three girls, not to mention he tried to avoid a confrontation with that stuck-up Uchiha prick."

"And he saved Ino's life from the butcher when he tried to kill her," Shikamaru added.

"He also saved Sakura and Hinata from Ami, don't forget that," Choji put in, "And people used to tease Sakura about her forehead the same way they teased me about my weight."

"Yes, let's see if he'll be our friend," Shino said as the four boys nodded and made their way over to Naruto and the girls.

* * *

Naruto, Sakura, Ino and Hinata were busy talking away to one another, happily chatting away about their escapades over the two years in which they had been friends. Ino was busy telling Hinata how Naruto saved her from a deranged butcher the two days after she befriended Naruto when he had apparently attacked her due to her association with the "demon" filth. The butcher had come at her with a meat cleaver, clearing intending to kill her, but Naruto had intervened and fought the butcher off, though the butcher did hurl the usual names at Naruto.

It reminded Sakura of the time Naruto had come to her rescue when that crazed man with the pitch fork came at her before she had talked to Ino about Naruto. In fact, that incident with the pitch forked man was probably instrumental in getting Ino to befriend Naruto… at least Sakura thought so.

Anyway, they were interrupted when they noticed four boys walking towards them… two of who Ino recognised as her father's two best friends' sons. Nevertheless, all three girls got ready to defend Naruto, believing them to have come to pick on him.

Naruto himself looked at the four boys and he recognised one of them as the one who had taunted him that time he made a fool out of himself during the Henge no Jutsu demonstration in which he had tried to transform into the Sandaime, but messed up.

The boy Naruto recognised had dark brown hair and black eyes that those irises were so narrow; they were practically near-slits. Tattooed on his cheeks were two dark reddish pink triangles that were shaped as if they were fangs. Naruto knew this boy had to be from the Inuzuka Clan. He wore dark blue sandals, dark grey trousers that when down to halfway between his knees and feet and a t-shirt that was white with a slight brownish yellow tinge to it.

The first boy Ino noticed had dark brown hair, so dark it was often mistaken to be black. Also, he had his hair tied back in a short spiky pony tail. His brown eyes were equally as dark as his hair and were narrow like the Inuzuka boy's, though not to the point of being near-slits. He wore the same kind of sandals as most of the student body… the same dark blue coloured sandals the Inuzuka boy wore. He also wore dark brown trousers that went down to halfway between his knees and feet, a back brown shirt with a green outline and thin black line that crisscrossed as at diagonal angles, giving the boy the illusion that he was wearing a mesh short. He also wore a light grey open jacket over his shirt. Ino knew him as Nara Shikamaru, Nara Shikaku's son.

The second boy that Ino noticed was clearly fat, though he looked a bit pudgy with light brown hair, so light it had an orange tinge to it and it seemed to stand up on end and his eyes were so dark, small and beady that their colour was impossible to distinguish, though Ino suspected that they were either dark brown or black. He also had light red spirals tattooed on his cheeks and in addition to his sandals, he wore brown trouser that were a lighter shade than Shikamaru's and like Shikamaru's and the Inuzuka boy's trousers, they went down to halfway between his knees and feet. He also wore a green t-shirt that was two shades of green; the left side being a dark green and the right side being a light green. He also had bandages wrapped round his hands that went to just past his wrists, making it look like he was wearing fingerless gloves. Ino recognised him as Akimichi Choji, Akimichi Choza's son.

However, the last boy, whom none of the three girls or Naruto himself recognised took up the rear and his posture mysterious appearance seemed to give off an atmosphere of creepiness about him that caused the three girls to shiver. It wasn't that he was frightening or anything like it… it was just that the air about him seemed to make the three of them feel somewhat uncomfortable.

The boy himself had dark brown spiky hair in a slightly afro style giving the appearance of a spiky bush atop his head. His eyes were indistinguishable due to the fact he wore a pair of circular, pure black sunglasses over them. He wore dark brown trousers that went down to his ankles and had a grey coat over his upper torso with the collar standing up, covering the lower part of his face.

Sakura shuddered just staring at him, guessing he must be from the Aburame Clan, as they were the only clan within the village that the villagers seemed to be a bit nervous about and it was all down to the Aburame Clan's association with insects that creped the majority of people, herself included out. However, that didn't mean to say that she hated them. In a way, the Aburame Clan reminded her of Naruto… people always looking down on them due to something beyond their control. From was Sakura heard, the Aburame Clan produced some of the village's best trackers and spies as they were able to utilise their insects and use them for those purposes.

However, that didn't stop many of the villagers from giving those from the Aburame Clan a wide berth whenever they walked down the street. Sure, no one tried to kill anyone from the Aburame Clan just like they tried to kill Naruto in the past due to the Aburame Clan's status in the village. Sure, like the Inuzuka, Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka Clans, the Aburame Clan didn't have the same amount of wealth and prestige as the Hyuga or the Uchiha Clans, but they were still a well-respected clan among the village's shinobi.

Despite this however, that didn't stop Sakura from backing away from the Aburame boy. Bugs always creped her out and the Aburame Clan literally had bugs living inside them; bugs that could kill with their sheer numbers. Oh yes, the Aburame Clan also used their insects for battle purposes. The insects the Aburame Clan used fed on chakra and killed by devouring their master's opponent's chakra. Like a swarm of bees, wasps or a colony of army ants on the march, one of those insects was no problem, but a whole swarm coming at you… their was absolutely no choice of survival unless their master decided to spare you, leaving you effectively drained of chakra to the point of being unable to conjure up even the weakest jutsu.

"What do you want?" Hinata asked, dropping into a Jyuken fighting stance after she activated her Byakugan.

"Wow, wow, hey," the Inuzuka boy, bringing his hands up in front of him, waving them in a defensive manner, "Look, we don't want to cause no trouble. We just want to talk."

Shikamaru and Choji just nodded and the Aburame boy just brought his hand up in front of his face, and adjusted his sunglasses slightly with his middle and index finger between his eyes as a sign of confirmation that what his friend meant was the truth.

The three girls looked at one another as if unsure whether or not accept their offer to talk and then they turned to face Naruto for his opinion. Naruto just stared at the four boys, studying them closely as he searched for the telltale signs that they were looking to make trouble. Fortunately, he found none and then nodded to the three girls, who immediately stood down.

"Okay, what do you want," Naruto asked in a relaxed tone, though the four boys could tell by his posture and undertone that he was still on guard just in case.

Not that they could blame him. After all, none of them had ever approached him nor did they make the effort to try and befriend him in the past and they knew that some of the other children had befriended him before, only to abandon him when their parents found out. It wasn't surprising that he was suspicious of them. He probably believed that the same thing was going to happen. The four of them considered it a miracle that he had allowed the three girls a chance at befriending him and from what they had seen; it had paid off.

"That was pretty impressive how you dealt with that arrogant Uchiha prick," the Inuzuka boy said with a smirk, "By the way, I'm Inuzuka Kiba."

"Aburame Shino," the Aburame boy said in a cold emotionless tone as he introduced himself.

"Akimichi Choji," Choji said with a friendly smile.

"Nara Shikamaru," Shikamaru said in his usual lazy tone with a sigh.

"This could get troublesome," he added in his thoughts.

Naruto just looked at the four for a moment as if unsure what to say. However, before anyone could do anything, Ino stepped out in front of Naruto, giving the four boys a half-smile.

"Thanks for the compliment," she said, looking at Kiba since he was the one who had said it, "Uchiha Sasuke is a jerk, isn't he?"

"Oh yes," Shino said in the same tone as before as the other three nodded in agreement.

Another thing that all four boys could agree with Naruto on, it was the fact that Uchiha Sasuke was the biggest nuisance in the academy. All four boys couldn't help but compare him to Ami in the sense that he sought out a specific target and only went after anyone else whenever he happened to come across them, like Kiba. The four of them knew that Sasuke had targeted Naruto specifically because of his poor performance in the beginning and as for them… Sasuke only ever targeted them whenever they happened to cross his path. That was something that Kiba knew. Sasuke was just a male version of Ami.

However, unlike Ami, Sasuke didn't have any friends to back him up. That was the major difference between them. Where as Ami had used her friends to bolster her confidence in making people's lives a living hell, Sasuke had acted on his own with no one to back him up. It was probably due to his clan's status in the village, plus Sasuke seemed to be naturally gifted, which did nothing to deflate his massive ego. The majority of bullies like Ami tended to go about in gangs since if their target ever stood up to them, then they'd have the rest of the gang to back them up. However, Sasuke seemed to rely on his own strength rather than a gang and it didn't help that he had the Civilian Council to bail him out whenever he got in trouble.

"I didn't do anything to the teme," Naruto said, shaking his head, "Sakura-chan, Ino-chan and Hinata-chan beat him up. I never touched him."

"I saw," Kiba said with a shrug, "That's pretty impressive how you managed to ignore his insults and even pretended to praise him just to avoid a confrontation with him."

"That must've taken a lot of courage," Shino put in.

"I doubt any of us would have been able to do that," Choji added.

"Yeah, a confrontation with him would be too troublesome," Shikamaru finished with a yawn.

"Everything's troublesome to you Shikamaru," Ino grumbled under her breath, shooting the lazy boy a glare, clearly annoyed at his constant use of the word, "troublesome".

"Anyway, congrats girls," Kiba went on, "That stuck up little snob needed a good beatin'."

The three girls blushed at this, clearly not expecting the boys to compliment them.

"Anyway, we were wondering…" Choji spoke up nervously as he decided to cut to the chase, "Would it be possible… if… well, y-y-y-you know, if we could be friends."

He shut his eyes, expecting a verbal lashing and to be harshly denied. However, after a full minute went by, he opened his eyes, wondering why no one had said anything.

Naruto and the three girls looked stunned with wide eyes, clearly surprised at Choji's statement. Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino all stepped beside Choji as if agreeing with him and stared at the four friends curiously as they wonder whether or not they were going to be dismissed or accepted.

"Y-y-you guys want to be friends?" Naruto finally said in a tone of disbelief with a hint of happiness and wariness mixed together.

True he couldn't believe that those four wanted to be his friends. He had seen them before in the past and though he never actually walked up and spoke to any of them, they had not shown any signs that they had wanted to be his friends in the past. In fact, Naruto believed that they had listened to the villagers. He remembered seeing them from time to time whenever parents were scolding their children for hanging around with him and though they weren't the ones being scolded, Naruto could tell from their body language that they had been eavesdropping in what the adults were saying. Why would they change their minds?

Nevertheless, part of him was overjoyed at this. It could mean more people acknowledging him for being himself and not whatever it was that the majority hated him for. After all, it had been what he was striving for his whole life, plus they were boys and he had been surrounded by girls these past two years. He needed some male companionship since he knew that sometimes there were certain things that could only be discussed between people of the same gender, plus he felt that if he hung around the three girls his whole life, he could potentially pick up girlish personality traits and become a laughing stock, though he'd never admit this aloud.

On the other hand, another part of him was wary, fearing that it was either a dream and that he could wake up or that the boys' parents might find out about their friendship with him and tell them not to go near him and that they would listen to them. It had happened in the past and Naruto didn't see a reason why those four would be any different. After so many children abandoning him because of their parents, he couldn't help but be wary, fearing that those four would abandon him like most of the other children did.

Apparently, Shikamaru seemed to sense Naruto's insecurity and then walked towards him with a sigh.

"I guess it isn't surprising that you're cautious," he said as he walked up in front of Naruto and placed a hand on his left shoulder, "After all, with everything that's happened to you in the past, how can you trust us? After all, none of us made the effort to become your friend in the past. I have to admit that we… all four of us listened to everyone else before…"

He then proceeded to give his story with the other three giving their stories as well and needless to say, Naruto had been surprised to discovered that many of the shinobi clan heads had not only sided against the villagers, but had actually made efforts to try and adopt him into their clans. However, aside from that, the fact remained that none of them had made an effort to try and save him or make his life easier in the past.

The three girls were also shocked. They had no idea that the majority of shinobi clans had secretly supported Naruto.

"Guess you have more supporters than we all thought Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

Naruto just nodded with a stunned look on his face.

"Uh huh," was all he said.

"You're no monster Naruto man, "Kiba said with a smile, "If you had been, Uchiha-teme wouldn't be alive right now. You would've ripped out his throat by now."

"Yeah and because of you, that mean girl, Ami's been brought down to her proper place," Choji added as he glanced at Sakura, remembering that she had been the main target of the majority of Ami's mistreatments.

"Y-you mean she picked on you too?" Sakura asked curiously, giving Choji a sympathetic look.

"Not as much as you," Choji admitted with a nod, "But whenever she passed by me, she would often tease me about my weight."

"And she sometimes hurled insults at me because of my clan's uniqueness," Shino added, cringing as he remembered Ami and how she would hurl hurtful comments at him about his insects.

"You mean that purple haired little hussy?" Kiba said as he clenched his fist in anger as he remembered Ami had once hurled a hurtful dog insult at him because of his clan's association with dogs and the fact that his physical appearance had dog like traits, "That was you?"

"If you mean that purple haired girl that was bothering Sakura-chan and tried to give Hinata-chan Hell, then yeah, that was me," Naruto admitted with a prideful nod.

"That's the one," Choji said, nodding his head, "Her name's Ami and I happened to be passing by when you stood up for Sakura-san and against when she came you Hinata-san's rescue. No monster would've thought to save them. I know that I was afraid of you in the past and I'm sorry. I was just gullible I guess."

"The bottom line is that because of you, one of the academy's worst bullies has been knocked off her high horse and into reality," Shikamaru said plainly, "Not to mention, you tried to avoid a confrontation with another bully, even going so far as to praise him in an attempt to get him to leave you alone. That must've taken a lot of guts to swallow your pride like that."

Naruto nodded with a sigh.

"I could honestly care less what the teme believes," he said in a slightly agitated tone, "However, it's just that he feels that everyone has to know who he is and what he's capable of. Man, that just pisses me off; it pisses me off so much. He's so hung up over his clan's status that he forgets that he's only human as well."

"I'll say," Kiba said in agreement with a nod, "Damn prick got my mom in trouble all because he decided to pick a fight with me."

Naruto, Sakura, Ino and Hinata looked at Kiba in surprise. Of course Naruto knew that Sasuke had picked fights before and he knew about the Civilian Council's influence in getting Sasuke off the hook with them, but he never imagined that the parents of the children whom Sasuke picked fights with had gotten in trouble because of it. Naruto knew that Kiba had to be the boy that Sasuke decided to fight just because he happened to glance in his direction. He couldn't help but sympathise with Kiba, knowing the feeling. Sasuke had after all tried to pick fights with him as well; the most recent attempt had caused him to suffer a beating at the hands of the three girls. It was a wonder that they hadn't been pulled up by the Civilian Council yet.

However, knowing Sasuke, Naruto reckoned that with his pride being as strong as it was, he wouldn't tell anyone and would eventually seek them out to deal with them himself. Sasuke was the sort of person that believed heavily in fighting his own battles and would not accept help from anyone. Heck, Naruto theorised that if Sasuke was in a situation where his opponent was overpowering him then he'd rather lose the fight and embrace death instead of accepting another's help. To Sasuke, accepting another person's help was the same as saying that he was weak and Naruto knew that Sasuke would rather die than accept the help, even if he did know that he needed it.

"Anyway," Shino spoke up, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts, "How about it Naruto-san, will you give us a chance? I know we didn't have high opinions of you before, but will you give us the chance to make up for it?"

"You know Naruto-kun, Shino-san does have a point," Ino said as she turned to face him before he could reply to Shino, "After all, I never really had a high opinion of you either and if not for Sakura-chan, I probably wouldn't even have considered being your friend."

Shikamaru and Choji both flinched at this, since they both knew that Ino's mother, Shiori had divorced her father and moved out because of Ino's friendship with Naruto. They had heard it from their fathers after they had come home from taking Inoichi out in an attempt to cheer him up after the divorce had been settled. As much as Inoichi didn't let on the fact that divorcing his wife bothered him, Shikamaru, who had seen him from time to time knew that the divorce did bother him… not to the point where he drowned his emotions in alcohol, but Shikamaru could tell that he wasn't as indifferent to the divorce as he led others to believe.

Ino however, from what Shikamaru could gather didn't seem all that affected by the divorce and in reality, seemed quite happy to be rid of her mother, though Shikamaru had to admit given her friendship with Naruto and her mother's attitude towards Naruto, it was hardly surprising that Ino had blown her mother off. Shikamaru remembered seeing that Ino and her mother had passed each other one time and though they didn't speak to one another, he did notice the hate-filled venomous glares they had shot each other and that scared him. What could her mother have possibly said that would cause Ino to hate her so much? Not that he cared… like everything else in his life, he had decided that looking into it was just too troublesome. He did know however that Shiori had most undoubtably had been a factor in Ino's closeness with Naruto.

Anyway, Naruto thought about what Ino had said and he had to admit that she did have a point. She never really had a high opinion of him until Sakura told her how she had rescued her from Ami and had it not been for her mother crashing in on their meeting that Sakura had arranged, Ino probably wouldn't be his friend. He searched their eyes for signs of deception and found none. If he gave Ino a chance, why not them? After all, he couldn't help but notice that most of them had been either picked on or shunned for something they had no control over.

Choji had his weight, Shino had his insects, Kiba had his dog like aspects and Shikamaru was just lazy. Like Sakura had been teased because of her big forehead, Choji had been picked on because of his weight and also shunned and excluded from games as well. However, like Ino had done with Sakura, Shikamaru had done with Choji and they were best friends just like Ino and Sakura were best friends.

Shino had his insects living inside him and because of that, most of the village's populace gave him a wide berth, clearly freaked out by that fact. Naruto could tell that the three girls were a bit creped out as well, but he knew that at least they were making an effort to see past that. Those of the Aburame Clan had the most difficulties in meeting people outside their clan and getting them to marry into the clan because of their insects. However, even though Sakura, Ino and Hinata were nervous of Shino, he could tell that they were giving him a chance. Heck Hinata even walked up to him and was giving him a hug, much to Shino's surprise and though Hinata felt a few of Shino's Kikaichu crawling on the backs of her hands, he didn't scream or withdraw, though she did wince and cringe at first, but her arms remained wrapped round Shino and eventually calmed down as she got used to the feeling.

"I do apologise if my tone seems cold and uncaring whenever I speak," Shino said to the three girls and Naruto, "But that's just the way I am. Just because I sound uncaring and indifferent doesn't mean that I am."

"That's okay Shino-san," Sakura said with a nod of understanding, "It's something you can't control just like I have no control over the size of my forehead and Hinata-chan doesn't have any control over the appearance of her eyes or her status as a Hyuga or Naruto-kun with whatever it is everyone hates him for."

Naruto nodded and noticed that Sakura and Ino started walking over to Shino as they decided to try and get comfortable round him and his insects and then he continued his analysis of the boys.

Kiba's clan, the Inuzuka Clan was known for their animalistic and feral nature as well as their association with dogs. Heck, they even had dog like aspects in their appearances. Though on to the same degree as the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan frightened people somewhat because of their nature and if what Kiba had said about his mother was true, it was no wonder his father had headed for the hills. Naruto knew that people were a bit intimidated by the Inuzuka Clan, though they did not give them a wide berth like they did with those in the Aburame Clan. However, they were regarded with intimidated and sometimes hatful looks, though not the same degree of hatred as Naruto had suffered.

As for Shikamaru, he was just lazy, though he did get picked on sometimes because of it. However, rather than do something about it, he just ignored the taunts and took it. According to him, dealing with bullies was too troublesome for him, but Naruto had soon learned that Shikamaru considered just about everything in life was troublesome. In Naruto's opinion, Shikamaru would even regard lifting a feather off the ground as troublesome, but that was just his opinion. In any case, Shikamaru was the number one lazybones in Konoha.

He could tell that his actions over the years had changed the four boys' original opinions that they'd made of him… opinions based on them listening to what other children's parents had said about him. Heck, they all seemed to have a mutual hatred for Sasuke and Ami and Naruto knew that since he, Sakura and Ino had saved Hinata from Ami that Ami had lost her fearful influence over her targets due to the fact she had no more friends to back her up and that it had given everyone the confidence to stand up to her. He had seen Ami after that incident a few twice and she regarded him rather bitterly, though she had remained silent, just giving him a bitter stare. In fact, Ami now regarded everyone, aside from Sasuke bitterly.

Oh yes, Ami was part of the Uchiha Sasuke Girls Fan Club as everyone seemed to had dubbed it, though not an official organisation, the name had been given due to the number of girls that chased after Sasuke. Not that Naruto cared. In his opinion, Ami and Sasuke would be perfect together since they seemed to be opposite gender version of each other. However, the fact that both bullies had bothered those four boys in the past meant that they had something in common.

"Okay," he said with a nod as he made up his mind, "Okay. You can be our friends."

Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru's faces lit up with smiles where as Shino remained where he was, seemingly indifferent as Hinata, Ino and Sakura allowed his Kikaichu to crawl over their hands, slowly but surely getting used to the bug user's presence.

"However, I don't take too kindly to betrayal," Naruto went on as his look hardened and his tone had a hint of warning in it, "Too many people have abandoned me in the past and I don't want to feel that again."

The four boys nodded and three of then gulped nervously, knowing that Naruto was being truthful.

* * *

**Glossary**

Uzu-mesu – Whirlpool bitch (The woman's nickname for Kushina, Naruto's mother)

Kikaichu – Parasitic Destruction Insects (Special type of beetle used by the Aburame Clan)

Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique

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**Author's notes **– That was an unexpected chapter. I have to admit, introducing the rest of the Rookie Nine was no picnic. I had to use the Narutopedia to get the background info and for most of them, I tried to explain their reasons for neglecting Naruto in the past based on their personalities, which was hard for Choji so I decided that fear was best since in canon he didn't want to fight the Oto nin until Zaku called him fat. I tried to as realistic as possible and I suspect that after hearing everything the adults said about Naruto, I'm sure that some of the children would be fearful of him. Anyway, the part at the beginning with the woman… I wanted to let you all know what she had been up to these past two years since she's one of the major antagonists of the fic and I have been neglecting her recently. Also I wanted a clue to the main reason she hates Naruto to be known. I was going to go more into Senkei, but the chapter was longer than I thought and so I decided to put that in next chapter since what that would fit in quite well with what I have planned for next chapter. By the way, in the recent manga chapter, Sai of all people has just told Sakura about how Naruto loves her and how both she and Sasuke are causing him pain… Sakura thrown that promise that Naruto made to her and from the look on Sai's face in a few panels, he wasn't too happy and I believe had had been clenching his fist in one panel as he spoke. Harsh Sai… but at least it's the truth. Try face up to that if you can Sakura. When I think about it, someone really had to lay it out for her. I'm also a bit annoyed that Kishimoto-san hasn't had Naruto do anything about confession. I mean, come on… she confesses to him and then after Nagato brings everyone he killed in Konoha back to life, he doesn't go up to Hinata and asks if she's alright. It's like Naruto just blew her off like Sakura had blown him off many times in the past and Sasuke blew Sakura off in the past as well, though Naruto doesn't do it through punches to the head or hurtful comments. Hey Naruto, grow a brain and move on man. Anyway, one last thing. I've decided to hold back going into cannon territory (the start of the Naruto series) till chapter ten or eleven. There're still some things I want to establish before I go there and in case you're wondering about Ami, you haven't seen the last of her.


	8. Defending Naruto, class walkout

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage **

**Chapter 8 – Defending Naruto, class walkout **

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

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"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

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**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

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Uchiha Sasuke was absolutely livid as he stormed into the main hallway of the Ninja Academy. Two days previously, he had been subjected a vicious beating by Naruto's three cheerleaders… or at least in his mind, that's what they were. He had been bored with nothing to do and had decided to torment the dobe to feel better. However, the dobe had… to put it simply, disregarded, mocked and humiliated him and if that wasn't enough; his three cheerleaders actually had the nerve to assault his person; him the last Uchiha, one of the elite, the one destined to become a god among gods.

Luckily for him, there was no lasting damage in the area between his legs, as he had seen a doctor afterwards who had informed him that he still was able to restore his clan, which was a relief to him as he heard what the blonde-haired slut had told him before walking off. When asked what had happened, Sasuke had told the doctor that it was a training accident as he knew the Civilian Council's pure hatred of Naruto and would see it as a perfect opportunity to get rid of him. However, as much as Sasuke enjoyed the Civilian Council's blind support and getting him off the hook, he knew that this time, he would not allow them to interfere. He wanted to deal Naruto himself and would not allow anyone else to do so.

In his mind, that whole situation had been Naruto's fault. If Naruto had fought with him like he had wanted, he wouldn't be going through this right now. He would not have been subjected to the thrashing those three whores unleashed on him. The Civilian Council would also see it that way, Sasuke knew, but he didn't want them dealing with Naruto. Since Naruto humiliated him, Naruto was his to deal with and he'd be damned if anyone else was going to take his revenge from him. He honestly didn't care why Naruto was so hated in the village. Naruto had been fun to taunt and tease in the past because Sasuke knew that he had been too weak to retaliate. He didn't know why or what it was, but something about tormenting the weak and showing them just how weak they really were made him feel good. He enjoyed their hurt looks and feelings of helplessness. He enjoyed ruining their day and watching them cry and above all, he absolutely enjoyed hurting their feelings and destroying them psychologically. It felt rather euphoric and made him feel powerful; like he had power over those people and he could do whatever he pleased with them and making them feel absolutely worthless and that they'd never amount to anything was the best part about it and he especially enjoyed the delusional fangirls and their complete cluelessness as they joined in with him in hopes of scoring points with him and impressing him. They were obviously hoping that he'd notice them and make them his wife. However, Sasuke did not care for them in the slightest. They were too weak for his liking, though he enjoyed their support and help in tormenting his fellow classmates as it made him feel important.

"Blind delusional fools," he thought to himself with a stone cold expression on his face, "Any kunoichi I sleep with will strong and useful, not weak and useless."

Sasuke was no fool. He knew that if he wanted to restore his clan, he'd need girls to help him and he also knew that by going down the path he was currently going down, he'd be lucky if any girl would want anything to do with him, but he did not care in the slightest. First, he'd concentrate on gaining the power he needed to kill Itachi and conquer the world and then once that was accomplished… well, if no girl wanted to help them and then he'd force them to help him. He would seek out strong kunoichi the world over and force them to help him. This brought an evil smile to his face. The thought of raping and ruining unsuspecting and unwilling kunoichi brought out a rather dark sadistic pleasure in him to the point where he actually wanted his future "brides" to struggle and fight against him before he destroyed them and if they happened to possess Kekkei Genkais or Hijutsu, that would be a bonus for him. He decided right then and there that he would not take girls who decided to help him willingly. He'd go for those who would refuse to help them and then force them into it for pretty much the same reasons he tormented his classmates; it made him feel powerful; that he was above everyone else; even the gods themselves, whom he vowed to surpass and after they had fulfilled their usefulness, he'd eliminate them and rebuilt the Uchiha Clan as his own personal army. However, before all that, he had to first gain the power to kill Itachi and avenge his fallen clansmen and he also had to deal with Naruto and his little gang of sluts.

His face then twisted in anger as he thought about the blonde-haired knucklehead and his gang of whores, two of which had once been devoted fangirls of his and the last, the biggest disappointment to the Hyuga Clan. Naruto was proving to be a major obstacle in his way. He had originally targeted Naruto due to his poor skills and lack of progress, but then suddenly, he seemed to make major progress overnight and that infuriated him to no end. Naruto was a nobody; he was the last of the Uchiha, one of the two founding clans of Konoha. To Sasuke, Naruto's improvement was a crime against the Uchiha. No one should be allowed to surpass an Uchiha. They were gods among the gods themselves.

Another thing that infuriated Sasuke about Naruto was that the three girls Naruto had apparently befriended had started improving as well, especially the Hyuga slut. Though he would never ever admit it, Sasuke felt threatened by Naruto and the three girls. He feared that they'd show him up. He didn't want that. Naruto was bad enough, but his feelings of humiliation were infinitely amplified when the ones showing him up were girls. Now if those fangirls had any clue as to the real Sasuke, one of the things that would undoubtably stand out in their minds that Uchiha Sasuke was unrealistically delusional in most things, especially when it came the opposite gender, which he had rather cruel chauvinistic views towards. When it came to females, Sasuke believed that they had no business being shinobi and that even the weakest man in the world was countless times stronger then the strongest woman in the world. To him, a woman's place was in the home doing all the housework and looking after the children and her husband. However, he knew that this was wrong. Some of the greatest ninjas in the world were women. Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin, the only genin team to have been trained by the Sandaime himself was one such example; a renowned iryo-nin who was rumoured to be unsurpassed in medical techniques and who was also rumoured to have the strength to demolish buildings and was known for her short temper. However, this meant nothing to Sasuke. His views may be wrong, but the stronger the kunoichi, the more chance of her producing offspring worthy of the Uchiha name. He also knew that some men saw women as nothing more than objects that existed for their amusement, though how people found other people's bodies entertaining was beyond him. He definitely did not find the female body particularly interesting and saw that sort of thing as a waste of time. Despite his views regarding women, he did not see any benefit from them other than to help restore his clan; period. Once he conquered the world, he'd go about making his beliefs a reality.

Turning into a classroom he stopped in his tracks right at the door when he saw a familiar spiky blonde-haired boy laughing with Kiba and Choji or as he liked to call them, the dog-boy and the lard-ass.

"Curse you dobe," he thought as he felt his blood boil, gritting his teeth.

* * *

Naruto sat with Kiba and Choji laughing at a funny story that Kiba told about his sister, Hana. Sakura, Ino and Hinata were sitting nearby; Sakura with Shino as she was still in the process of getting used to him and his Kikaichu where as Ino and Hinata were both happily chatting away. As for Shikamaru, he just sat at his seat with his arms folded on top of the desk and his head buried in his arms as he slept… nothing surprising about that. One of Shikamaru's greatest hobbies was falling asleep no matter where he was. Heck, even a sloth was more energetic than Shikamaru.

"Troublesome," he grumbled with a yawn, causing Ino to glare at him.

"Honestly," she said, shaking her head as she turned back to face Hinata, "With that lazy attitude of his, I swear that he views even breathing as a strenuous chore. If he raced a snail, I think he'd lose."

"Well, that's Shika-kun for you," Hinata said with a laugh.

Ino nodded.

"Troublesome girls," Shikamaru grumbled to himself having overheard them.

He honestly could not understand girls at all. To him, they were all like his mother; annoying nags that wanted this, that and the next thing and they would not shut up until they got what they wanted. How in the world Naruto managed to put up with it for two years was beyond him. He definitely wouldn't have been able to have stood it for that long. They'd probably have driven him insane in less than a day, but then again, Naruto was hated by the majority of the village and those three obviously must've left him alone when it came to getting what they wanted.

However, before he could go back to his nap, he suddenly felt a wave of killing intent pass him and being directed at Naruto, causing him to jump to his feet wide awake as he saw just who was marching over to Naruto.

"Oh great, it's His Majesty, the almighty Uchiha come down from up high to mingle with us lesser folk, how troublesome," he said sarcastically in a loud voice, alerting everyone else to the Uchiha's presence, though Naruto, Kiba and Choji had already become aware of Sasuke's presence when they felt the wave of killing intent hit them.

"Hn," Sasuke flinched as he heard Shikamaru's comment, which caused him to stop and briefly roll his eye in his direction.

However, he just shook his head and continued making his way towards Naruto. He really didn't have the time to deal with the lazy Nara heir and anyway, Sasuke deemed Shikamaru not worth his time as he figured that it would be a short one-sided battle that wouldn't even last a second with him as the victor due to the Nara's laziness. He was itching for a fight with Naruto and he was determined that this time, he would get one.

"Oh great," Naruto groaned, clearly annoyed as he knew exactly what he was after, "Listen teme, I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, so just buzz off."

Sasuke just scoffed as he glared with pure murderous rage oozing out his eyes. Damn he hated this… dobe; hated the very sight of him; hated how Naruto was brushing him off like some lowly insect.

"You think I care," he spat venomously as he continued to glare at Naruto as if his very existence was a crime against humanity.

"I guess not," Naruto said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"Listen up you arrogant prick," Kiba said, standing up to defend Naruto, "We ain't interested in yer damn life, so just leave us alone."

"Stay out of this dog-boy, this doesn't concern you!" Sasuke snapped, shooting the Inuzuka heir a murderous look, "I will have my revenge for the humiliation I suffered two days ago."

"Lay off," Choji warned, sending the Uchiha a rather nasty look, though in truth, the look on Sasuke's face was making him feel rather uncomfortable.

From the looks of it, it seemed that Sasuke was out for blood and both Kiba and Choji were concerned that Sasuke was looking to kill their newest friend. They never really liked him that much anyway, but ever since the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke was becoming more and more violent and darker than he was before. That much, everyone knew. Since the Uchiha Massacre, there was something different about Sasuke; something violent, threatening and evil. It was as if he had been possessed by an evil demon of destruction. However, the Civilian Council had just turned a blind eye to this and whenever Sasuke acted up; his victims were the ones who got the blame. Everyone could agree that the villagers' treatment of Sasuke; how they pampered and gave him everything he asked… or more specifically, demanded was a factor in his behaviour. Naruto had unfortunately upset the applecart and the fact that Sasuke could no longer pick on him like he used to was indeed another factor. It was something Sasuke was not used to. To stand up to him was one thing; to stand up to him and win was just something Sasuke could not handle.

"You stay out of this as well lard-ass," Sasuke said in response to Choji's comment, "Unless you want to die."

Choji's eyes widened at this statement, though he did not back down. Why was this so surprising? The look in Sasuke's eyes told him that it was no mere empty threat and that he was more than capable and he would make good on that threat if need be.

"Look, I'm not interested," Naruto said plainly.

"Beat him up Sasuke-kun!" a girl who was in the room shouted in support of the Uchiha heir, obviously one was his fangirls who overheard them.

Unfortunately, this started off a chain reaction as many girls in the room started shouting their support for Sasuke.

"Great, another headache, how troublesome," Shikamaru groaned upon hearing the banshee like screeching

"Yeah, beat him up!" another girl shouted.

"He's got nothing on you Sasuke-kun!" a third girl screamed.

Sakura, Ino and Hinata immediately rushed over to Naruto, Kiba and Choji and Shikamaru and Shino followed suit.

"I suggest you don't cause a scene Uchiha-san," Shino said in his usual stoic tone, "You may get in trouble."

"That's Uchiha-sama to you, you bug-loving freak!" Sasuke spat, glaring at the Aburame heir; rather infuriated that Naruto had more than his little "whore squad" backing him up.

In fact, Naruto had the heirs of most of the Shinobi Council backing him up and Sasuke knew that the Shinobi Council were unanimously opposed to the Civilian Council and how they had been giving him everything he demanded. He also knew of the tensions between the two sides of the Council and how they waged verbal wars with one another. In the past, the Civilian Council had won out, but this time, Sasuke knew that they may not be so lucky in helping him get off the hook, since the Shinobi Council's future replacements were involved. However, anger overwhelmed logic. He was determined to fight Naruto and he'd be damned in anyone was going to stop him, plus the support his fangirls were giving him only served to bolster his confidence.

"What the matter dobe?" he taunted with an evil smirk as he looked at each of Naruto's friends, "Can't fight your own battles? Last time, you got those three sluts to deal with me and now more. Afraid I'll beat you? You must've been rather desperate if you hired three girls as your bodyguards."

"Excuse me Sasuke-"kun"," Ino said; practically spitting the kun suffix out in disgust, "But I believe that you're forgetting that we totally thrashed you."

"More like stomped on him," Sakura corrected.

Ino nodded.

"Ha, you whores were just lucky enough to catch me off guard," Sasuke boasted smugly though inwardly, he was seething as he remembered how fearful he was before the three girls had started beating him as he remembered their combined killing intent and how his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he struggled to speak.

Before that, the last time he had been afraid had been during the massacre when he was afraid that Itachi was planning on killing him. Back then, he had been so afraid as he believed that he was going to die and no one was around to help him. He hated that feeling; feeling helpless. When the three girls had all glared at him, he felt the same he had felt that terrible night and it infuriated him. He remembered during the massacre how he had screamed like a pathetic weakling and how pathetic he had made himself look. He never screamed two days ago and yet, he felt like the same pathetic weakling he had been that night and with that knowledge, he felt rage overflow mind. He had been completely humiliated because of it; beaten by three girls who he viewed as being weaker than him, especially the Hyuga whore and the fact that she was a Hyuga and that the Hyuga's had bad blood with the Uchihas before the massacre only served to amplify his rage along with the fact that he viewed Hinata as the weakest of the three due to her shy nature before she met Naruto.

"I can assure you that Naruto-kun does not need our help to deal with the likes of you Sasuke-teme," Hinata said as she prepared to go through the hand seals to activate her Byakugan, "You were the one who provoked us into attacking you."

"Yeah, if you don't remember then allow us to jog your memory," Sakura went on, continuing from where Hinata left off in a tone of mock curiosity, "What was it… something about how we were weak because we were girls?"

"Why yes, I do believe he said something like that," Ino finished in a tone of mock triumph.

"Face it teme, you were the one who provoked them," Naruto said in a serious "matter of fact" tone as he glared at Sasuke, "I'm pretty capable of fighting my own battles without their help, though I very much appreciate them helping me."

The three girls all blushed at this and Sasuke just glared at the group of friends with nothing but contempt and revulsion.

"Who the hell cares, just beat them up already Sasuke-kun," the voice of a familiar purple-haired girl, "We're right behind you rooting for you."

"Ami," Sakura and Ino both groaned with a wince, clearly not pleased at the presence of their old nemesis.

Ami walked out from the horde of fangirls, practically shoving those in front of her out of her way. All of Naruto's group then groaned as Ami had reminded them of the horde of Sasuke fangirls that were rooting him on and encouraging him.

"They do realise they're probably creating a monster, right?" Kiba said as he turned to face the others with a look of disbelief; disbelief at how delusional and oblivious those girls were.

"Doubtful," Shikamaru sighed as he shook his head, "I doubt they even realise anything about the world other than their previous "Sasuke-kun"."

Honestly, just what was with these girls anyway? It was like their entire world revolved around Sasuke and everything else didn't exist. To them, Sasuke was everything and that was that. They couldn't stand it whenever something happened that proved their views on Sasuke wrong. Shikamaru remembered one time when Naruto actually did better than Sasuke at throwing shuriken a few days earlier before he, Choji, Kiba and Shino decided to befriend him and he remembered hearing the screeching voices of the fangirls who complained, accusing Naruto of cheating somehow because they couldn't accept the fact that he did better than their precious "Sasuke-kun". Shikamaru knew that it was impossible for Naruto to cheat as there was no way he could have cheated without being caught, but that didn't matter to the fangirls. Naruto cheated because they said so and that was that. They believed that they were right regardless of how ridiculous their claims were. To them, if someone was outdoing their crush then logic and lack of proof did not exist. Their word was law. In completely disgusted Shikamaru to no end that these girls were so stubborn that they'd say just about anything to justify their claims, even if it was logically impossible or if they clearly saw proof that proved them wrong and they actually had the nerve to attend these classes and call themselves kunoichi in training. Heck, Shikamaru had to wonder how many of those girls actually trained in their free time. It was absolutely appalling that he already knew that hardly any of them trained as they were too busy fawning over Sasuke and spending their training time at beauty salons, caring more about their looks than becoming shinobi. It was girls like that that gave kunoichi the world over a bad name.

"Well if it isn't the entire band of freaks," Ami stated in a boastfully cocky tone with a rather smug expression on her face, "The Freak Brigade, that's what we ought to call you."

"What do you want?" Naruto asked the cruel purple-haired girl in a rather infuriated tone, "I thought that after two years you would have learned your lesson, but it seems that you still want to cause misery to others just to make yourself feel good."

Ami glared at Naruto and looked ready to lash out at him, but then she took a deep breath, calming herself down and shook her head before the ends of her lips curled into a rather cruel and evil smile.

"I'm just here to watch Sasuke-kun pummel you into the ground and put you in your rightful place whisker face," the evil girl remarked smugly with her arms folding and stood with a stature that suggested that she was high and mighty.

In the two years since Naruto had humiliated Ami; both when he rescued Sakura from her and when he, Sakura and Ino had rescued Hinata from her, Ami had become rather cold and bitter. Having lost all her so-called friends, she had lost everything that made her who she was. She used her popularity to make other people's lives hellish all because she enjoyed the sensation of seeing other people miserable and she knew that those who followed her joined in just because she did it. However, ever since the last of her so-called friends deserted her after the humiliation she suffered when Naruto stuck up for Hinata, the people she had targeted, to her shock started to stand up to her, having gained confidence due to the fact she was alone. Without her gang backing her up, Ami knew that she was nothing. That had been a lesson she had learned the hard way and it had felt like a slap in the face. However, she found that she just could not accept that. She hated it. She hated being powerless. She hated it that she couldn't make others' lives hellish. To her, bullying was more of a livelihood than a sport. It had brought her pleasure that she rather enjoyed and wanted to feel again. It was like an addiction. She was addicted to bullying people and the fact that she could no longer do it absolutely infuriated her to no end and since her so-called friends had deserted her fearing reprisals from Naruto since Naruto had been the one Ami had provoked; Ami blamed it all on Naruto and vowed that she would have her revenge.

It was one of the reasons she had joined Sasuke's fanclub. Sasuke was a lot like her, Ami knew and unlike her, he was able to bully others by himself and succeed. Sasuke indeed had a lot in common with her and like the majority of his fanclub; she had fallen for the delusion that he would choose her as his wife when they grew up. She believed that Sasuke cared for her and was playing hard-to-get. However, unlike many of those other fangirls, Ami had an ulterior motive, which was why she joined the fanclub. To her, Sasuke was her ticket to regaining everything she had lost. She figured that if she could convince Sasuke to let her join him, then everyone would grow to fear her again and she'd be back on top. She planned on using Sasuke to regain her reputation and upon learning about his hatred for Naruto; that just made things even better. She'd let Sasuke deal with Naruto and then she'd go and deal with Sakura and Hinata while Sasuke dealt with Ino as Ami knew that Ino could stand up to her and cause her to retreat. The hardest part would be convincing Sasuke to let her join him as he completely blew off every attempt his fangirls made at asking him out. She knew that it would be difficult, but she was determined that she was going to get everything that she believed Naruto took from her back. However, for the time being she was content to just watch Sasuke give Naruto the well-deserved thrashing she believed he had coming to him.

Unfortunately, she did not expect four clan heirs to come to his aid, though she was sure that Sasuke was more than capable of dealing with them and the fact that Sakura, Ino and Hinata had humiliated him two days earlier only served to boast the cruel girl's smugness as she knew those three would not escape unscathed either.

"Who says he's gonna beat Naruto up?" Kiba asked in a dangerous tone, glaring at the horde of fangirls; Ami in particular.

"Sasuke-kun's the best," a random girl stated.

"Yeah, he could take you all on with his eyes closed," another said in agreement, causing both Sasuke and Ami to grin evilly.

"Why doesn't he prove it?" Choji challenged, daring him to take them up on the girl's statement.

"No thanks, I will only fight the dobe," Sasuke stated simply, glaring at Naruto.

Damn, even the sight of him caused Sasuke's blood to boil. Naruto just infuriated him that much. He despised Naruto; despised the fact that he existed and despised the fact that he was living proof that his views on reality were wrong; something that he had every intention of "rectifying".

"No, I won't fight you Sasuke-teme," Naruto stated simply as he shook his head with a stern look on his face, "And nothing you say will make me, so just leave us alone."

Sasuke just exploded at that point as he once again saw red. How dare this inferior insect refuse him? He wanted a fight and he would get one. Uchihas were denied nothing and he was an Uchiha. He was destined to rule the world. Looking around, he decided that if words would not get Naruto to fight him, then perhaps threatening one of his little sluts will. As he eyes lay on Hinata, he nodded to himself and lunged towards her as he pulled out a kunai knife his holster.

"She'll do," he thought with an evil demonic smirk on his face.

Before anyone could react, Sasuke was already behind Hinata with his arm wrapped tightly round her chest and the kunai aimed at her throat.

"You will fight me dobe or the Hyuga slut dies," he stated looking towards Naruto with an evil gleam in his eye.

"Yeah, come on Sasuke-kun, slit the bitch's throat!" Ami called out with the backing of the other fangirls; many of which did not believe that Sasuke was seriously going to kill the Hyuga heiress.

However, Naruto and his group all knew that Sasuke was deadly serious and that it was no empty threat. He would seriously kill Hinata if he didn't get what he wanted and looking at Ami's expression, Naruto knew that she not only knew that Sasuke would do it, but was actually encouraging him to do so.

"You made the biggest mistake of your life teme," Naruto said in a rather furious and loud tone as he glared daggers at Sasuke as he looked ready to lunge at him.

"That's more like it," Sasuke said with a smirk.

However, much to Sasuke's confusion, Naruto's glare suddenly transformed into a cocky and somewhat sadistic smirk.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me," he said in a somewhat excitable tone.

"Huh, just what do you mean?" Sasuke asked, feeling his rage boil over once again as he inched the kunai closer to Hinata's throat.

However, as if to answer his question, Hinata stomped on his foot, causing his arm's grip on her to weaken as she ducked and yanked herself free, avoiding the kunai. Once free, she quickly went through the hand seals to activate her Byakugan and once activated, she took a Jyuken fighting stance and lunged towards the stunned Uchiha heir.

"You little bitch!" Sasuke cursed as he lunged at Hinata with the kunai still in his hand; ready to pierce the girl's heart.

However, Hinata caught Sasuke's wrist and squeezed tightly, causing his hand to open and causing the kunai to fall to the floor and then Hinata brought her free hand up and quickly thrust it towards Sasuke's chest. However, Hinata slowed down once a few centimetres from her hand's target and only touched Sasuke lightly, while making sure not to target any vital areas as the Jyuken was a lethal taijutsu style if hit in the right places. However, the momentum that had built up from the speed of Hinata's arm kept going and slammed into Sasuke, causing him to go flying back and Sasuke felt as if his chest had been slammed by a battering ram.

"Told ya, you underestimated Hinata-chan," Naruto said, shaking his head.

Hinata blushed at hearing Naruto, but turned her attention back to Sasuke, who was struggling to get to his feet as he glared dangerously at the Hyuga heiress with murderous rage in his eyes.

"Curse you bitch," he said as he managed to make it back up onto his feet, "I'll kill you."

Hinata responded by dropping into another Jyuken stance and Sasuke started forming hand seals and with her Byakugan, Hinata saw Sasuke pour his chakra into his chest as he took a deep breath of air before forming an O with his thumb and index fingers of his right hand and positioned the O shape so that the gap was over his mouth.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he exhaled and fire shot out of his mouth and formed a huge fireball.

Luckily, Hinata had seen what was coming through her Byakugan and had managed to veer to her right, avoiding the fireball; those potency had been diluted somewhat due to Hinata's earlier Jyuken strike to Sasuke's chest. However, once Sasuke stopped, the area of the floor that the bottom of the fireball had touch was now in flames along with the desks that had been caught in the fireball, but Sasuke didn't care. He was already exhausted and to make matters worse, Hinata was already upon him and with a carefully calculated chop to the back of the neck, she rendered Sasuke unconscious.

Just then however, one of the senseis rushed in having heard the commotion.

"Just what the hell is going on here?" he asked and his eyes widened upon seeing the fire and the unconscious Sasuke.

"What happened?" he asked.

Luckily someone else rushed in with a fire extinguisher and doused the flames

The sensei, a man with short black hair and rather sharp brown eyes wearing a standard Konoha Shinobi uniform with his hitai-ate tied round his waist like a belt glared at Naruto, already deciding to blame him.

"I bet this was your fault you little hellspawn," he went on as he glanced at the unconscious Uchiha heir, "And you also assaulted the Uchiha heir. You've really overstepped the mark this time."

"He started it," Naruto protested, much to the annoyance of Sasuke's watching fangirls who all immediately voiced their disapproval and spoke up in Sasuke's defence.

"Liar!" the man snapped, "You attacked him."

"Excuse me Akito-sensei, but that is not true," Shino spoke up, "Uchiha-san was in the wrong. We were all just minding our own business when Uchiha-san just came in and demanded a fight with Naruto-san and when he refused; Uchiha-san threatened Hinata-san who acted in self-defence."

"Yeah, that's right," Kiba spoke up in agreement, "That's exactly what happened.

"That's right, I saw it myself," Choji spoke up with a nod.

Shikamaru nodded, but did not say anything.

Sakura and Ino both looked at the unconscious Sasuke, both trying to figure out how they could have ever considered this evil boy their true love. How could they have ever liked him so much if he was willing to kill his classmates just to satisfy his injured pride and how could those other girls stand there and defend him even after witnessing what he had done? Once again both girls found themselves thankful to Naruto that through him, they had been able to see Sasuke's true colours as they both knew that if not for meeting Naruto, they could very well have ended up being part of that crowd cheering the emo-teme on and seeing Sasuke now, both came to realise that had they continued chasing after him, they both would have undoubtably ended up ruining their own lives.

"They speak the truth," Hinata spoke up, bring both former Sasuke fangirls out of their thoughts and back to reality, "I was the one who rendered Uchiha-san unconscious, but I was acting in self-defence. He was going to kill me."

"Lies, all lies!" Ami screeched furiously; furious that things were not going the way she had wanted them to go, "That boy was annoying Sasuke-kun; him and his little brigade."

The rest of the fangirls all voiced their agreement, not wanting to see their "Sasuke-kun" get into trouble since in their view, Naruto and the others had been in the wrong. Sure they had seen what had happened, but in their minds, Sasuke was pretty justified because in their eyes, Sasuke could do no wrong and that it was okay for him to do what he pleased. Besides, they all knew the Council would get him off the hook anyway.

Anyway, the other students that had been in the classroom; mainly boys, who did not join either side all started speaking up in Naruto's defence as they had all witnessed what had happened and had been shocked at Sasuke's behaviour.

Needless to say, the man, Akito was downright furious. He just couldn't believe that so many were speaking up in defence of the "demon brat". He hated the "demon brat", despised him and wanted nothing more than to see him dead. He remembered how both his father and older brother had died during the fight with the Kyuubi no Yoko eight years previously and like most of the village, saw Naruto as the Kyuubi itself. He had been one of the main ringleaders in sabotaging Naruto's education and ever since his improvements, he had been waiting in the wings, watching Naruto like a hawk; waiting for him to slip up so he could have him ousted from the academy and now he had that opportunity.

Unfortunately though, mostly everyone who wasn't a fangirl of Uchiha Sasuke was standing up for him. Of course, he knew that what they were saying was probably true and Sasuke had been in the wrong, but he didn't care. It was an opportunity to dispose of the "demon brat" and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it pass up.

"Okay demon, release whenever hold you have over these children right now," he stated furiously as he glared at Naruto with nothing but revulsion and contempt.

"I'm not doing anything," Naruto protested, though he knew it was pointless.

He knew that Akito was going to try and get him expelled. He knew that the senseis at the academy had been waiting patiently waiting in the shadows, looking for an excuse to get rid of him as they now knew that sabotaging his education had proved pointless. However, he did not expect what happened next.

"I can quite assure you Akito-sensei, we are not under any influence whatsoever," Shino stated, much to Akito's fury.

"Yeah, what makes you say that?" Kiba asked in a challenging tone, shooting the rage-filled sensei a glare.

Akito was at a loss for words. He had not expected this. He had not expected some of the children to come to his defence. He knew that the children's parents had all warned their sons and daughters to stay away from the "demon brat" and that, as far as he was aware, they had all obediently heeded their parents' warnings. Apparently he had been wrong in that assumption. However, upon looking at the children who had stood up for him, he recognised them both at the heirs to the Aburame and Inuzuka clans; two clans with seats on the Shinobi Council and that rather infuriated him.

"Yeah, what makes you say that?" Choji challenged as he walked up beside Kiba with Shikamaru, Hinata, Ino, Sakura and Shino following suit; all of which had challenging glares on their faces, as if daring him to reveal why Naruto was hated so much; something they were all eager to know.

"Do you not see who he is?" Akito growled through gritted teeth as the clan heirs all stood up for Naruto.

"The boy that mostly everyone hates," Shikamaru replied in an uncaring tone with a shrug, "The boy who was abused, shunned and ridiculed while growing up. His name is Uzumaki Naruto and even he doesn't know why he's hated so much. Everyone hates him and we, the children don't know why. Most of us just followed our parents' examples blindly without an ounce of thought as to why."

After he finished, Choji then turned to face everyone else in the class.

"Many of you befriended him, but once your parents discovered this, you all abandoned him in favour of what your parents said without asking why," he stated with a look of seriousness on his face, "Did you not stop to think why? Did you not ask your parents why they wanted you away from him?"

"I did, but kaa-chan threatened to kill me if I persisted in asking her," Sakura admitted with a nod before turning to face the others in the class, "But that didn't stop me from befriending him, did it?"

The children, minus Sasuke's fangirls, who were all still fuming over Sasuke's predicament all looked down at the feel feeling that they had just been scolded for doing something wrong and once those words sunk in, they started to realise the truth in them. Their parents never really told them why they hated Naruto. They never told them why they should stay away from him. They had just believed what they had been told and not once did they see the reason to question it.

"You're all blind if you haven't seen what Naruto-kun has done for you," Ino spoke up, turning to face them, "It's because of Naruto that you were all able to stand up to Ami for two years."

Said girl let out a vicious growl at being reminded of her misfortunate.

"It was Naruto wh stood up to Ami in Sakura-chan's defence and then in Hinata-chan's defence days later that led to her popularity plummeting," Ino went on explaining, "Think about it, all her friends abandoned and ditched her because they were afraid of what Naruto would do and in doing so, gave you all the courage and confidence to stand up to her and put her in her place and not only that, but many of you were also tormented by Sasuke and Naruto-kun has managed to stand up to him and not get beaten down. If not for Naruto-kun, Ami would probably still be the bossy little snot she always was making your lives hellish."

The children all nodded as they remembered that. Many had been targets of both Ami and Sasuke and thanks to Naruto, Ami had been knocked off her high horse and Sasuke had someone who he could not push around.

However, Sasuke's fangirls all furiously protested at this wanted to speak out in the defence of their "Prince Charming".

"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kiba shouted as he flashed the group of delusional fangirls a viciously feral glare, causing them all to quieten down with looks of pure terror on their faces.

"Lies, all lies," Akito said as he glared down at Naruto and then at those who dared defend him.

In truth he not only despised Naruto, but he also despised the Shinobi Council and the Sandaime Hokage. The clans of Konoha all had various secrets and genetic aspects that helped them excel on the battlefield and the way Akito saw it, with all those Hijutsu and Kekkei Genkais, the clans all had unfair advantages over everyone else. Akito himself was nothing special. His father had come from a civilian background and his mother was a civilian. There was nothing special about him and seeing the clans and their unique aspects, he couldn't help but feel jealous and it infuriated him to no end that some people had advantages over others; advantages that he saw as being unfair. In his mind, the clans were all just as demonic as Naruto himself was.

He only hated the Sandaime because of his support of Naruto as well as the fact that, like him, he had been of an average background and unlike him, had pushed past those limitations to become one of Konoha's greatest shinobi. After all, the Sandaime had been trained by his predecessor, the Nidaime and there were also rumours that he had also been trained by the Nidaime's older brother, the Shodai Hokage and that rather infuriated him as well.

The Shodai was famous for his Mokuton jutsu, which was his clan, the Senju's main specialty and the Nidaime was famous for the use of Suiton jutsu in areas which there was no source of available water for him to use and yet, the Nidaime was somehow able to manipulate the moisture in the air, turning it to water and as for the Yondaime, he had perfected a jutsu that had allowed him to single-handedly decimate entire armies in a short space of time.

With all that in mind and the knowledge that he was just an average shinobi with no Kekkei Genkai and no Hijutsu filled him with raw passionate fury towards the entire Shinobi Council. Heck, even Haruno Takeshi, who was not from a clan had superb kenjutsu abilities had managed to break the barriers of being average. Heck, he was given a seat of the Shinobi Council because he had been a close friend of the Yondaime and the Yondaime's most trusted advisor and right hand man.

"I can see from the look on your face that you have every intention of punishing Naruto anyway," Shikamaru said, bringing the enraged sensei back to reality.

Shikamaru then turned to face the rest of the class.

"Does anyone think that's fair?" he asked in a serious tone devoid of his usual laziness, "Should he just punish Naruto anyway when it's clear that he's not in the wrong?"

Everyone in the classroom, aside from Ami and Sasuke's fangirls all shook their heads.

"Then what do you suppose we do about it?" Hinata asked in a serious tone, stunning everyone who knew her as the weak, shy and timid girl who couldn't utter a single sentence without stuttering.

"I say that if the academy is going to treat Naruto-san unfairly, then we don't bother turning up," Shino stated, after which there was a brief silence and then the rest of the class all spoke out in agreement after thinking about everything they had been told so far.

"What, you're quitting; you can't all be serious?" Akito said with a mixture of stunned shock and enraged fury in his voice, "You can't do that."

"Yes we can," Shikamaru stated simply, "Rules state that shinobi in training are free to quit at any time and some do as they just aren't cut out for ninja life, but if you're going to treat a student unfairly just because of something you're not willing to tell us about, then I see no reason why I should be here."

"I concur," Shino stated stoically.

"Count me in," Kiba said with a nod.

"Me to," Choji spoke up.

"You know, my mom never really wanted me to become a ninja anyway," Sakura said with a sigh, "She only relented because I wouldn't shut up about it, but now she can rest easy since she won't have to fear me dying on a mission."

"I'm sure tou-chan will understand," Ino spoke up, "After all; this is for Naruto-kun."

"I could care less what my clan says," Hinata spoke up, giving Akito a defiant glare, "The only downside is that Neji-niisan will feel that he's been proven right about all his fate garbage, but I can live with that."

The rest of the class all stood up and started making their way towards the door, much to Akito's fury.

Naruto looked on in astonishment. This was something he had not expected. In truth, he was still a bit wary of the four boys and part of him had feared that they'd end up abandoning him like all the other children had done in the past. However, after seeing them jump to his defence, that part of him was quashed completely and he was rather touched and not only that, but that had convinced the other children save Sasuke's overly obsessed fangirls to help them.

"You guys… you'd all really do that f-f-for me?" he said with tears of happiness starting to well up in his eyes.

"Of course we will," Kiba stated with a smirk, "You're our friend and Inuzuka rules state that we never abandon a member of the pack."

Akito was absolutely livid. Not only was his opportunity that he had been waiting on for two years going up in flames, but the majority of the class was threatening to walk out if he went through with punishing Naruto. The fact was simple; if Naruto went, they would all follow him and that infuriated Akito to no end. Sure, it would mean being rid of the heirs to the major clans; the ones Akito despised the most for having "unfair advantages", but he knew that a class of just one boy and his diehard fanclub of so-called kunoichi in training would not make it far and would be impossible come graduation. With this in mind, he came to a decision.

"You," he said glaring at Naruto as he reached into his kunai and shuriken holster and pulled out a kunai, "This is all your fault. You've poisoned the minds of your classmates and our most esteemed clan heirs."

"You are mistaken," Shino commented in his usual uncaring tone, "I can quite assure you Akito-sensei that he has not poisoned our minds."

"Shut up!" Akito snapped furiously as he glared at the bug user, "I don't give a rat's ass what the truth is. I'm going to do what should have been done eight years ago and if you interfere then you'll die with this demon filth and I don't care if you're from a clan. It'll just be a bonus for me since I can stand those with unfair advantages."

Naruto's eyes widened as Akito lunged at him with his kunai ready to kill and noticed the crazed murderous look on his face.

"Die Kyu…!" Akito shouted, but was immediately cut off when a kunai suddenly flew right into his throat.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock as Akito dropped to the floor, dead and for Naruto, he was briefly reminded of that incident two years ago in which he had thrust that broken glass shard into that man's throat when he lashed out. Looking behind him, he saw Kakashi with an outstretched arm in front of him along with a dark brown haired woman with crimson eyes that he knew was Yuhi Kurenai, Hinata's motherly figure who had tried and failed to increase her confidence before she met him. Standing to Kurenai's left was a woman he did not recognise. She had short dark purple hair with the back in a spiky hairstyle and rather dark brownish grey pupilless eyes. She wore light brown sandal with shin guard that went up to her knees, an orange skirt with mesh shorts running down with the bottom visible beneath her skirt. She also wore a mesh shirt and a light brown trench coat over it though the front was unbuttoned exposing her cleavage and she did nothing to hide it. Her hitai-ate was tied round her forehead and she looked rather disappointed.

"Gee Kakashi, did you really have to kill 'im?" she said in a disappointed tone as her face adorned a frown, "I wanted ta have a little fun with him."

"Sorry Anko," Kakashi said in an apologetic tone, "But I had to act. He was going to kill Naruto."

"Oh yeah, the blonde gaki," the woman, Anko said with a sigh before turning to Naruto and flashing him a grin that Naruto recognised as being similar to his own fake grins that he flashed to hide his feelings whenever he was feeling down, "Hi there, the name's Mitarashi Anko, nice ta meet ya."

"N-n-nice to m-m-meet you to Anko-s-s-san," Naruto said in a polite tone as he bowed.

Sakura completely ignored the interaction between Anko and Naruto as she had overheard Akito's last words before the kunai flew into his throat and knew that he was calling Naruto something, but unfortunately before he could finish, the kunai entered his throat and she swore she heard Kakashi sighing with relief afterwards; relief that Akito had been unable to finish what was being said.

"Kyu, just what does that mean?" she thought to herself as she raced her brain for possible answers and then her realised something that caused her eyes to widen in shock.

"Kyuubi!" she thought as she remembered hearing the story of how the Yondaime Hokage had sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyuubi no Yoko eight years previously, "But what does Naruto-kun have to do with the… no way, they can't possibly believe that… but then…"

That was shocking, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. She knew that Naruto's birthday was on October 10th, the same day the Kyuubi attacked the village and Naruto being eight-years-old meant that his birthday fell on the exact same day the Kyuubi attacked. Of course, she could just pass it off as a coincidence, but with the treatment Naruto had been receiving his entire life, coupled with what she had heard from Akito before he was silenced, Sakura was coming to a rather startling conclusion and looking at Shikamaru, she could tell that he had also came to a similar conclusion and Shino, who was a bit of a genius.. well if he had come to the same conclusion, he certainly didn't show it as he remained his usual mysterious self. It was then she remembered reading up something in the library to do with the name, Jinchuriki.

"I have to go to the library and reread that book," she thought as she believed that she just may have figured out the reason behind Naruto's treatment, "If they believe that Naruto-kun's the Kyuubi no Yoko, then they're sorely mistaken. A Jinchuriki is not the Bijuu that is sealed within them."

That much she did remember reading, but she had decided to do a bit of revision just to be sure that she had indeed come to the right conclusion and if she had, just what then? What would the adults say if they discovered that she knew the truth and still defended Naruto? Perhaps many would make ridiculous claims on how she was being brainwashed, but it made sense why the children were not told. Obviously the Sandaime must've tried to get Naruto to become friends with the younger generation, but unfortunately the parents found ways round that and it also made sense why her mother had threatened to kill her two years ago when she had first befriended Naruto. Fuhei obviously felt that if she did know the truth then she'd have no choice but to kill her. She remembered the unhappiness in her mother's tone when she had made that threat. Her mother must've feared that she would have been silenced if the Sandaime knew that she knew to prevent the truth from getting out, but now that she did now, what now? However, she'd think about that later. First thing's first; she needed to revise that book and also look into the Yondaime's past in order to think of a possible reason why he had chosen Naruto as his sacrifice.

* * *

Meanwhile within the Hyuga compound, the branch member stood at the entrance of a dark room trembling in fear as the room's sole occupant sat with his back to the entrance with the curtains draped over the windows darkening the room. This was how Hyuga Senkei liked it. He was a dark man, the branch member knew The curtains were rather thick and black, making them rather effective in blocking the light.

"Report," the man in the room, Senkei stated simply in a stern tone that practically oozed out authority.

"Y-yes Senkei-sama," the branch member said before managing to collect himself and regain his composure and then cleared his throat, "Unfortunately, we've been unable to locate Yusuke."

"I'm not concerned with that," Senkei said sternly, causing the other man to tremble slightly as he knew just how intimidating the old man could be, "I've already concluded that Yusuke's either fled like a coward as he has nothing against our esteemed heiress or he's been killed by that crimson-eyed bitch who believes that she can interfere in my plans. What I'm interested in is Hinata's progress or has another one of your spies failed to report again?"

"No s-s-sir," the branch member said stuttering as he trembled in fear and took a while to regain his composure and the courage to reply, "Well apparently, there was an incident at the academy involving the Uchiha heir that resulted him in threatening Hinata-sama's life. However, Hinata-sama surprised us when she managed to break free and retaliate and not only that, but she rendered the Uchiha heir unconscious, even after he performed the Gokakyu no Jutsu."

"And what was this incident about?" Senkei asked in a tone that demanded an answer.

"Well Senkei-sama, apparently two days earlier, there was an incident involved both Uchiha Sasuke and Hinata-sama's friend, Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Curse that demon brat," Senkei interrupted in a furious tone, causing the branch member to flinch.

"Anyway, from what I heard, Hinata-sama and the other two girls Uzumaki-san hangs out with beat the Uchiha heir and the Uchiha heir was looking for revenge against Uzumaki-san as he clearly blames him for it and afterwards, there was an incident involving one of Hinata-sama's sensei's, though I don't have all the information regarding that."

"It doesn't matter, you've said more than enough," Senkei replied in a rather dissatisfied tone, clearly not happy with Hinata's amazing progress, "You're dismissed."

The branch member gave a bow and then exited the room, quietly closing the doors behind as he left the old Hyuga Council member to brood.

Needless to say, Senkei was not happy in the slightest. He rather despised and loathed Hinata; not because she had been born, but because of her kind and caring nature and what it could mean for the clan and its traditions. Hyugas were all about not showing emotions and fighting mercilessly. To the Hyuga Clan, showing an opponent mercy was a sign of weakness and yet, Hinata showed mercy constantly to her sparring partners, even after displaying remarkable improvements. In the beginning, Senkei had intentionally set out to destroy Hinata's fighting spirit he knew that her dream was to end the division within the clan, something that he himself was opposed to.

He was no fool though. He knew of the bitterness between the two houses in the clan and how it would eventually lead to civil war within the clan. That was what he was planning. Sure, there were steps in place to keep the branch houses in line, but Senkei knew that it was only a matter of time before the branch members found ways round that and it suited his plans perfectly; to usurp Hiashi of his position and then proceed to seize control of the entire village by becoming Godaime Hokage as he knew a civil war in the Hyuga Clan would undoubtably drag the rest of the village's shinobi into it and would weaken the village's defences for him to make his move. That was his intention and why he had set out to ruin Hinata's chances of gaining confidence. Her plans for the clan interfered with his and he was determined to see his plans through.

Unfortunately, thanks that the "demon brat", Hinata's confidence was growing and Hiashi had already rescinded his earlier decision to replace her with her younger sister, Hanabi and that did not sit well with him. Despite his best efforts, he could not convince Hiashi to reconsider.

"Curve that demon brat, he's ruining everything," Senkei thought as he remembered when Hinata first started growing a backbone.

He knew of the villagers' mistaken beliefs that the "demon brat" had the Hyuga's support and from Hiashi's attitude towards the whole affair, Senkei knew that Naruto had at least his support, even though he knew Hiashi would never admit it and as much as Senkei wanted to come forward and straighten things out, he knew that that would potentially be disastrous for him and his plans as it could potentially bring unwanted attention upon the Hyuga Clan and the villagers looking into the Hyuga Clan wondering why they were allowing their heiress to hang out with the "demon brat" was not something he wanted as he knew that someone may end up uncovering his plans and that was something he just could not afford at this point. Sure, the Hyuga Clan was a rather intimidating clan, but Senkei knew that there were brave souls in the village that would try to investigate them and with so many villagers against Naruto and them knowing the truth, their numbers may boast their confidence. Beside, Naruto had the support of the clan head despite his constant denials.

For now, Senkei knew that he was stuck. He'd have to bide his time and wait for an opportunity to deal with Hinata and Yuhi Kurenai as well since he knew that she knew about him and his desire to get rid of Hinata. Yes, he'd also deal with Miss Yuhi in due time, but for now, he'd have to wait. Then a thought passed through his mind as he remembered the bitterness between the two houses.

"Hizashi's son," he thought to himself as he remembered Hiashi's twin brother, Hizashi and how he had died in Hiashi's place after an attempted kidnapping by a ninja from Kumogakure no Sato; an incident that he himself had arranged in his first attempt to get rid of Hinata when she was only three.

That incident had traumatised Neji and filled him with a passionate fury towards the main household and he knew that Neji held Hinata in contempt the most as she was the heiress and was going to succeed Hiashi someday, the one he blamed for his father's death and Senkei knew that Neji felt that Hinata was every bit as responsible for his father's death as Hiashi himself was. Neji didn't know the truth as Hiashi felt that he had not been ready to know. That would be a mistake that Senkei made sure he would come to regret.

"Excellent, I'll just get the fool to do the deed for me," he thought as a wicked smile crossed his face, "It shouldn't be too hard to manipulate him. The tools he needs are already in place."

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**Glossary **

Kumogakure no Sato – Village Hidden in the Clouds

Gaki – Brat

Shodai – First

Godaime – Fifth

Bijuu – Tailed Beast

Densetsu no Sannin – Legendary Three Ninja

Iryo-nin – Medical ninja

Hijutsu – Secret technique (A group of techniques that are unique to a select group of people. Unlike a Kekkei Genkai these techniques are not genetically inherited; just that the group of people are rather secretive about them and don't teach them to outsiders, though it is possible for outsiders to learn them some Hiden jutsu require a Kekkei Genkai to be used to their fullest potential i.e. Jyuken, which needs the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai)

Kenjutsu – Sword techniques (swordplay)

Mokuton – Wood Release

Suiton – Water Release

Katon : Gokakyu no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

Nii-san – Brother (The san suffix is used as a sign of respect)

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**Author's notes **– I'm back from my unofficial seven-month hiatus and I have to say that I'm sorry for the long wait. It's just that not long after I finished last chapter, I was busy getting a college placement sorted, which led to a rather bad case of writer's block and I even started some new fics. One of the problems I do find with Naruto fanfiction is that as soon as I think of one idea, it's not long before another pops into my head. Anyway, my two other fics are a Code Geass /Bleach crossover and a Code Geass fic, which I'm not abandoning by the way. I'm just moving back to this fic. Anyway, I finally managed to get Senkei into the picture and his plans are underway. You know I was planning on putting the events I have planned for next chapter into this chapter and the events of this chapter in the next chapter, but then at the last minute when I thought about it, the events concerning the council would be more believable if I swapped the chapters about. I realise that my portrayal of Sasuke may be a over-the-top and that he's becoming evil too soon, but as I said before, I do tend to hype things up and blow them out of proportions and I do have a plan on dealing with Sasuke to ensure that his behaviour is temporarily down-toned for canon events. As I said before, this will be one of the most evil portrayals of Sasuke ever and he won't give up; just bide his time until he gains the curse mark from the hebi-teme. One of the biggest ups about this hiatus is that manga has progressed to a point where Danzo is dead and his fighting style has been revealed (Sharingan arm and Izanagi along with Hashirama's cells), though for some reason I doubt we've heard the last of his activities as some of them may be discovered in future since his ANBU ROOT is still around. Anyway, I'm not happy about Sakura's actions as of late, though to tell you the truth, ever since Naruto and Sakura had that argument after Sakura said she loved Naruto and he saw through her lies, I anticipated that she would say something to Sasuke that was along the lines of "I'll betray Konoha and help you" since it's fairly obvious that she's incapable of letting go of her Sasuke-ism. It may have been a ruse to get Sasuke to drop his guard, but I doubt even if Sasuke hadn't tried to kill her that she would've been able to bring herself to do it. Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly hate Sakura (though I have read a couple of fics that have major Sakura-bashing that I find enjoyable), it's just that her attitude towards Naruto in the beginning is rather off-putting.


	9. Enter the Village Council, Sinster plots

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 9 – Enter the Village Council, Sinister plots**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

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"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

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**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

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Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed the sides of his head as he listened to the constant arguing of the two sides of the Village Council. It had been a day after the incident in the Ninja Academy involving Uchiha Sasuke and Akito and many of the students of the academy had threatened to walk out if Naruto was punished for an incident that he was clearly innocent of and the fault was clearly that of the Uchiha heir. Needless to say, the Civilian Council did not see it like that and Hiruzen knew that they would seek to punish Naruto anyway even if they did know the truth. Unfortunately for the power-hungry civilians, the heirs of most of the Shinobi Council had been involved and were the ringleaders of this walkout and unfortunately, they feared that they may not get their way this time as it would have serious ramifications if Sasuke got off scot-free like he had done in the past.

"I'm seriously getting too old for this," Hiruzen muttered with a sigh.

The Village Council had been an idea of the Shodai, Senju Hashirama in the beginning and was originally supposed to be a temporary arrangement to help get things established during the village's founding and the first generation of civilians had been rather decent and level-headed people. However, the problems started when their successors took up their positions and unlike the previous generation, they were corrupt, greedy and wanted more and more power and by then, it was getting to the point where the Village Council was no longer needed. However, the Civilian Council didn't agree with this and had dug deep, creating laws and regulations to ensure that it would be impossible for the Hokage to disband the Council. The Shinobi Council had done the same thing, but unlike the civilians, they had done it to counter the civilians and limit their control as the civilians had believed that the Hokage would disband the Shinobi Council and that would leave them in power, but that was not the case and shocking still, the civilians discovered that the Hokage had helped the Shinobi Council. However, the civilians did have the support of the Uchiha Clan, who had been in charge of the Konoha Keimu Butai. In fact, it had been the Uchiha Clan that helped the Civilian Council in their quest to ensure their survival.

The village of Konohagakure no Sato was originally founded through an alliance between the Senju and Uchiha clans, who had been rivals for as long as anyone could remember. Before that, ninja were just mercenaries belonging to individual clans and hired by various daimyos to do work for them. The two most powerful clans were the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan also know as the Mori no Senju Ichizoku due to their Mokuton jutsu that dwelled in Hi no Kuni. Their rivalry was well known among the daimyos, so much so that whenever a daimyo hired one clan, their enemies would hire the other to counter them. It finally reached a point where the Senju Clan had had enough of all the fighting and Hashirama approached the Uchiha Clan with a proposal of an alliance to end the fighting, something that the Uchiha with the exception of their leader, Uchiha Madara agreed to.

Madara however had been very distrustful of the Senju and suspected that their proposal was a ruse in an attempt by the Senju to seize control of the Uchiha and oppress them, but he was outvoted and only went along with the alliance because he felt he had no other choice and between the two clans and the many clans they had conquered, the village of Konohagakure no Sato was formed. However, when Hashirama was chosen as Hokage, it only served to fuel Madara's fears and he tried rallying support to oppose Hashirama, but the Uchiha Clan believed him to be power-hungry and greedy since they believed he had stolen his brother, Izuna's eyes in his quest for power; something that Madara denied and claimed that Izuna did willingly, though there was no proof to prove or disprove either claim. Afterwards, Madara had fled and came back years later to destroy the village and he and Hashirama fought in an area on the border between Hi no Kuni and Ta no Kuni that became known as the Shumatsu no Tani where Madara managed to summon the Kyuubi no Yoko and his Sharingan was so powerful that he somehow managed to control the Kyuubi, but Hashirama was able to use his Mokuton jutsu to defeat both it and Madara, as there was also something about his Chakra that enabled him to subdue the Bijuu and Madara was believed to have died. Also two statues were erected in the Shumatsu no Tani, one on either side of the border with Hashirama's in Hi no Kuni and Madara's in Ta no Kuni in memory of the battle.

However, afterwards, many in the village who knew the truth about the village's founding had started to distrust the Uchiha, believing them to be in league with Madara despite their dismissal of him. It didn't help that many of the Uchiha Clan had massive superiority complexes and only served to fuel suspicions. The civilians didn't know the truth and were ignorant to the whole affair, which was why the Uchiha had the support of the civilian populace. When Senju Tobirama, Hashirama's younger brother became Hokage, he had founded the Konoha Keimu Butai and gave it to the Uchiha Clan as a token of trust and reassurance, but some in the Uchiha, especially one Uchiha Setsuna suspected that it was a ruse and shared Madara's original fears of how the Senju were trying to oppress the Uchiha and control them. He and some others believed that this act of good faith was really means of distancing the Uchiha from the Hokage position, though what the truth was, was only known by Tobirama himself and by then, the Senju had already established their superiority, causing the Uchiha who believed that they were being oppressed to grudgingly accept the way things stood.

The Uchiha had a seat on the Shinobi Council, which was currently being filled by Shimura Danzo, Hiruzen's old rival and leader of ANBU ROOT until Uchiha Sasuke came of age in which he could take it up. Anyway, the Uchiha and the Civilian Council had helped one another out in the past and the Civilian Council were diehard supporters of the Uchiha, as proven in the past when they saved Sasuke from repercussions for his actions. To Hiruzen, the tension between the two sides of the Council was a lot like the old Senju/Uchiha rivalry with the civilians being the Uchiha and the shinobi being the Senju.

The two sides of the Council had been at loggerheads since the second generation of civilians took up their seats on the Council. The Civilian Council were just greedy and the Shinobi Council were there to stop them from becoming too powerful, though in the past, the civilians had been content to let the Uchiha Clan rule over them, but after the massacre, they had started trying to gain more and more power for themselves. Hiruzen suspected that they were planning on doing away the Hokage position altogether or at the very least make someone that they could easily manipulate the Hokage, which he suspected was what they were planning to do with Sasuke. Have Sasuke as their puppet Hokage. He'd be in charge in name only and the Civilian Council would be the ones pulling the strings. He suspected that that was why they had pampered him and gave him everything he demanded. They were hoping he'd warm up to them and that it would make it easier for them to manipulate them.

"I say we put the demon to death!" a random member of the Civilian Council shouted, "It's clearly corrupting our children's mind."

"You will do no such thing!" Yamanaka Inoichi shouted back, "As I understand it, Naruto-san never said anything that suggested that he was ordering them along."

"Yes, I do believe that credit for that should be given to my son," Nara Shikaku spoke up.

"And my son as well," Aburame Shibi added stoically.

"Who's to say the demon has to speak in order to give orders," another member of the Civilian shot back, "He could be issuing orders telepathically."

Hiruzen once again shook his head. This was another thing that troubled him. The Civilian Council were so adamantly opposed to Naruto's presence in the village and had tried numerous times to have him executed. In fact, every Council Meeting was flooded with their cries for the "demon's" demise. However, the majority Shinobi Council had protested and managed to stop their attempts. However, the Civilian Council were determined to be rid of Naruto; not because of the fact that he contained the Kyuubi no Yoko; that was just a ruse.

It was a well known fact that the Yondaime and Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato had made an awful lot of enemies in his time, which was why he had kept the village and Naruto himself in the dark about his heritage as he knew that if Minato's enemies discovered that he had a son, they could potentially target him for revenge. Unfortunately, it could not protect Naruto from all of Minato's enemies as Minato had made enemies within the village as well; most if not all of the Civilian Council to be exact. They were all aware of Naruto's heritage and they all secretly loathed and despised the Yondaime with a passion. The reasons were simply, Minato was a strong individual who was able stop them and put an end to most of their activities and downsizing their power, not to mention, he fell in love with an outsider from Uzu no Kuni, Uzumaki Kushina, whom many of them despised for being part of the old Uzumaki Clan.

Uzu no Kuni was now in ruins, but before it fell, the ninja of Uzu proved to be a major headache to Konoha, especially the Uzumaki Clan and the Civilian Council had found that the majority of their finances that was supposed to go into their various projects, most of which went towards furthering their own power and influence within the village had been redirected to replenishing the village's lost resources, something the Civilian Council held the Uzumaki Clan in contempt for and a fact that their village leader was falling in love with the last of them was something that infuriated them.

Kushina was a refugee fleeing from her homeland and who had come to Konoha at the age of five. Unfortunately, her father had stayed behind in Uzu no Kuni and the trip to Konoha had resulted in the death of her mother and so, Kushina was all alone. So, she became a Konoha-nin, though many of the Civilian Council had demanded that she be executed for her heritage. However, Hiruzen and the Shinobi Council stopped it and had managed to get the civilians to at least tolerate Kushina.

Needless to say, they were still not happy. Another reason why they hated Minato was because he had found a solution in finally disbanding the Village Council. Basically, he planned on replacing the Civilian Council members with more level-headed and decent people who would help him abolish the laws that had been put in place to prevent the council's disintegration. However, before he could go through with this plan, the Kyuubi attacked and all of those whom he selected to replace the civilians on the council had all coincidentally become victims of the Kyuubi. However, Hiruzen suspected that the Civilian Council had had them assassinated and had used the Kyuubi's attack as a cover. They probably viewed the Kyuubi as a godsend for them. Anyone turned up dead afterwards, the people would assume that it was the Kyuubi's fault. Hiruzen also had reason to suspect that before hand, the Civilian Council had been planning to assassinate Minato and his family, which meant that Naruto's life could possibly have been in danger anyway regardless of the circumstances.

What the Civilian Council were after, he suspected were the Namikaze Clan's assets. By village law, if all members of a clan die out then the clan's assets and resources go to the Village Council and Hiruzen suspected that was what the Civilian Council was after. Naruto was the only obstacle in their way and unfortunately, they had the perfect excuse to do away with him. Once Naruto was out of the way, they would undoubtably seize all of Minato's assets and use them to further their own power and Hiruzen knew that if Naruto died, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

He knew that they would have preferred Uchiha Fugaku as the Hokage and Fugaku had put his name him for consideration along with Minato and Hiruzen's own student and one of the Densetsu no Sannin, Orochimaru, who had since turned traitor and whose location was currently unknown. However, where as Hiruzen considered both Orochimaru and Minato, he had totally ignored Fugaku due to his attitude of superiority and even with the support of the Civilian Council, Fugaku was immediately eliminated as Hiruzen felt that he was too ambitious and that his ambitions could have potentially dangerous consequences for the entire village and it didn't help matters that Fugaku absolutely despised Minato as well for no other reason other than he was stronger than him and he was capable of performing jutsu that the Sharingan could not copy; something the Uchiha considered a blasphemous crime against their clan.

"Naruto-san is not a demon!" Inuzuka Tsume barked furiously, glaring at the Civilian Council members, "He's the son of the late Yondaime Hokage."

"You lie!" a woman on the civilian side practically spat with venom in her voice, "There's no way that vermin's the son of our late Hokage. The Kyuubi just assumed a human form similar to the Yondaime to mock us and now he's harmed the Uchiha heir."

"That was my daughter," Hyuga Hiashi spoke up as he stood up, "And she did it in self-defence. Uchiha-san was totally out of line and yet, you still defend him; disgraceful."

In truth, Hiashi was rather proud of Hinata, even though he didn't outwardly show it. He had known about Hinata's friendship with Naruto these past two years he found himself rather thankful to Naruto. It was because of him that Hinata's confidence and performance improved. He had known about Hinata's reluctance to hurt her sparring partners and had tried to reassure her. Unfortunately, being the strict authoritarian that he was, it had only served to destroy Hinata's fighting spirit and he suspected that the Hyuga Council, especially his uncle, Senkei had a hand in Hinata's inferiority complex as well. It got so bad that he had seriously considered replacing Hinata with her sister as clan heiress since Hanabi had grown to surpass her sister, though now, Hinata had surpassed Hanabi. He may not show it, but in truth he cared deeply for his daughters since their mother, Sayuki died in child birth after Hanabi was born. The decision to replace Hinata with Hanabi had been based on Hinata's inferiority complex. He knew that if she had become Clan Head, then the Hyuga Council would take advantage of her, making her nothing more than a puppet.

Like Hinata, he also desired to end the division in the clan, though he'd never admit it. He saw the bitterness that the branch houses held for the Main Household and knew that if something wasn't done, the Hyuga Clan would eventually erupt into civil war. Oh course, the Main Household had ways to keep the branch members in line, but Hiashi was no fool. He knew that they would eventually find ways round those and render them useless. The Hyuga Council believed that those measures were absolute and that nothing could overcome them and they enjoyed rubbing it in the branch members' faces. It was like they were saying, "We own you and there's nothing you can do about it".

"Foolish idiots," he thought with a frown, "Even the most foolproof seals in the world have their weaknesses. Ultimately, everything does."

Hinata wanted to end the division and so did he and thanks to Naruto, Hinata was becoming more confident and was able to successfully stand up to and hold her own against the Hyuga Council, impressing some and enraging others. He knew there were those who did not want to end the division and he suspected Senkei being the most prominent of them and he vowed that he would deal with them when the time came.

He was especially impressed with Hinata's performance against the Uchiha heir. Not only had she managed to free herself from his grip, but she was able to retaliate and render him unconscious and managed to dodge the Uchiha Clan's famous Gokakyu no Jutsu. He was definitely proud of her. Not only did she defeat her opponent, but her opponent was an Uchiha who believed that he was above even the gods.

He never really liked Uchiha Sasuke that much and it wasn't just because he was an Uchiha. Sasuke seriously had superiority issues, believing that he could do anything and get away with it and the fact that the Civilian Council helped facilitate and possibly even encourage this behaviour disgusted him. How could they be so delusional as to let the Uchiha off when it was pretty clear to everyone that he was in the wrong? This time, he knew they had an excuse. Naruto was involved and he knew that they saw it as a perfect opportunity to do away with him, but unfortunately for them, the majority of the Shinobi Council's children were involved as well and they sided with Naruto, which put them in a predicament in which they knew that Sasuke could not get out of this one unscathed; though that didn't stop them from trying.

"She was probably under the Kyuubi's influence!" another civilian shouted.

"I beg to differ, reports say that Uchiha-san acted first," Hiashi countered with a stern look as the councilman who had spoken.

Hiruzen shook his head. These people were so determined to have Naruto put to death, they'd say anything just to try and justify there claims.

"Kushina-chan, just what happened to you?" he thought as a look of sorrow washed over his face, "If you were here, I think you would have been able to sort them all out."

That was a mystery. Many people believed that Kushina had died in child birth eight years ago. Many people believed that both Kushina and her child had both died, unaware that the child was Naruto, but those assumptions were false. The truth was that Kushina survived and had taken care of Naruto for the first few days of his life and from what Hiruzen had seen, she absolutely adored her son and did not think of him as the Kyuubi incarnated in human form. However, four days later, Kushina had mysteriously vanished leaving Naruto alone in the apartment she had moved into since her wedding with Minato was conducted in secret with hardly anyone knowing that they were married and couldn't move into the Namikaze Estate as many people would ask questions. Anyway, Hiruzen found it strange. All of Kushina's possessions were still there, so he found it highly unlikely that Kushina had abandoned Naruto and yet, there had been no reports of her leaving the village and her body had not yet been recovered. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the Earth and until he had proof that said otherwise, he had had no choice but to declare Uzumaki Kushina dead.

He undoubtably suspected foul play. Minato had made a lot of enemies, that was true, but so had Kushina. The majority of the Civilian Council despised her and Danzo had initially wanted Naruto to be used as a weapon, something that Kushina was viciously opposed to and Hiruzen knew that Danzo was not one to let things lie. He and Danzo had been friends in the beginning and at first, their rivalry had been relatively friendly, but over time, their rivalry had become more and more bitter and once Hiruzen was appointed Sandaime Hokage, Danzo eventually started up his ROOT organisation and had been at loggerheads ever since. It wasn't hard for him to assume that Danzo had Kushina done away with just to get her out of the way so he could get Naruto. Danzo was the sort of man that would get what he wanted no matter what, even if he had to go behind everyone else's backs and resort to foul play to do so. However, unfortunately, like with the suspected assassination plot against the Yondaime before the Kyuubi's attack and the Civilian Council trying to get their hands on Minato's assets along with the suspected assassinations of those who Minato was planning on replacing the Civilian Council members with, he couldn't prove it and he could do nothing without proof. The Yondaime was a popular figure among the village populace, but was despised by many of the village's civilian politicians. It was sad; Hiruzen knew that he was unable to prove anything.

Shimura Danzo sat to Hiruzen's left along with Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu; Hiruzen's two advisors as well as former teammates who were trained by Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage. Unlike the Civilian Council as well as Hiruzen's two advisors, Danzo did not want Naruto dead. He wanted him to be brought into his ROOT program and brainwashed into a weapon, though the Civilian Council were fun to manipulate as Danzo agreed with them on mostly everything aside from Naruto and Sasuke.

As for Homura and Koharu, like the Civilian Council, they wanted Naruto dead for pretty much the same reasons, though they both knew of his heritage and like the Civilian Council had despised Kushina; believing her to have seduced and brainwashed the Yondaime into falling in love with her and they had not been told about Minato and Kushina's wedding and believed that they had not gotten married, so as far as they were concerned, Naruto was illegitimate and a bastard and therefore did not qualify as heir to the Namikaze Estate. However, unlike the Civilian Council, they both despised Kushina because she was an outsider and felt that she had gotten too close to Konoha's government and the way they saw it; outsiders were not allowed positions of power within the village and believed that Kushina had a hypnotic influence over the Yondaime. Not that it mattered; they'd probably see Naruto as Minato's illegitimate son even if they had known about the wedding due to Kushina's foreigner status.

What they feared was Konoha falling under the influence of foreign powers and believed Kushina was using Konoha as a means to rebuild her clan and establish Uzumaki rule, fears that were heightened due to the Civilian Council's hatred of her due to her clan depleting Konoha's resources and their finances being redirected to replenish them.

However, Danzo had manipulated things behind the scenes and was able to convince the Civilian Council to belay Naruto's demise, but the other thing that worried him about the Civilian Council was Sasuke. He knew the Civilian Council only humbled him because they hoped that they could make Sasuke Hokage and manipulate him into becoming their puppet. However, Danzo was no fool. He knew that Sasuke couldn't be manipulated. He was too consumed in his own hatred and delusions to be manipulated and that worried him. He would have been all for that plan had Sasuke been someone that they could easily manipulate. Danzo wanted to become Hokage himself and if he couldn't become Hokage, he'd be content to have the person who was Hokage listen to him and carry out his orders. Danzo preferred working behind the scenes anyway. The advantage in that is that he didn't draw attention to himself.

Unfortunately, Sasuke was too unstable and volatile and Danzo knew that eventually the Civilian Council would eventually run out of things to give the Uchiha heir and that it would not be enough for Sasuke and he'd demand more and once he discovered that the village was incapable of providing him with what he wanted, Danzo knew that Sasuke would undoubtably leave and betray the village and that worried him.

"Damn you Itachi," he muttered under his breath in a furious tone, "You should have killed him along with all the others. I fear that your plan has worked too well."

Many people believed that Itachi was a traitor who massacred his clan and fled, but the truth was, his criminal status and betrayal had been a ruse. In truth, Itachi had massacred the Uchiha Clan on Hiruzen's orders, though it was something that Hiruzen only ordered because Danzo, Homura and Koharu put him in the position where he had no other alternative.

For those who knew the truth about the village's founding, tensions between them and the Uchiha Clan had been running high ever since Madara's battle with Hashirama and Setsuna's failed rebellion. There always existed a distrust between the Uchiha and those who knew the truth and when Fugaku's nomination for Yondaime Hokage had been ignored, it had really infuriated him to no end and it was only made worse by the fact that Minato was indeed stronger than Fugaku and could perform jutsu immune to the Sharingan's copying abilities. That had enraged Fugaku to no end. He believed that there was nothing that Sharingan can't accomplish and the fact that Minato had proven him wrong was something he just couldn't accept. He felt that Minato was mocking the entire Uchiha just by being alive.

It had been a known fact that Fugaku and Minato never really saw eye to eye, which was a same since their wives, Mikoto and Kushina got on very well with one another. Fugaku did indeed have many arguments with Minato; the last of which ended with Fugaku storming out the room screaming on how he was going to raise the village to the ground before the Kyuubi attacked and when it did attack, many believed that it was Fugaku making good on his threat as Madara had been able to control the Kyuubi and they believed that the Uchiha had the ability to control it. Many of them blamed the Uchiha for the Kyuubi attack and it led to the Uchiha being evicted and moved to an isolated part of the village so that they could be kept under surveillance.

Needless to say, this had enraged Fugaku and he decided to instigate a coup and had Itachi implanted in the ANBU as a spy. However, Itachi had betrayed them and sold out his clan to Hiruzen. Danzo knew that Itachi had been traumatised by war since he was four-years-old and he knew that a coup would have been the catalyst for the Fourth Great Shinobi War, as it would have led to civil war within Konoha and afterwards, Konoha's enemies, including Iwagakure no Sato would take Konoha's weakened state as an invitation to attack.

Hiruzen had first tried negotiating with Fugaku, but Fugaku's hatred was so strong that he would settle for nothing less than all-out war. When confronted with the scenario that he could potentially start the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Fugaku had said that that was part of his plan and that he was planning on overthrowing the Fire Daimyo himself so he could use Hi no Kuni as a base in a campaign to conquer the whole world and establish the Uchiha Clan's superiority that he felt they had been denied since Konoha's founding.

Despite his failure, Hiruzen kept trying, but unfortunately, time was running out and Hiruzen eventually, with a heavy heart ordered Itachi to eradicate everyone in his clan, but unfortunately, Itachi had been unable to kill his brother and had come up with the idea of a ruse, as he ad intended for Sasuke to redeem the Uchiha Clan. Itachi would make Sasuke hate him and train to get his revenge in the hopes that Sasuke would be viewed as a hero after he'd killed him and the Uchiha Clan's past would be forgotten.

Danzo groaned as he remembered Itachi threatening him; saying that if he harmed Sasuke in any way, he'd go public with his mission and give all of Konoha's secrets that he knew of to its enemies and to Danzo's shock, Itachi had Hiruzen's approval to do so, probably as an act of revenge for him placing him in the position that forced him to order Itachi to massacre his clan.

Since then, Danzo had had his ROOT keep an eye on Sasuke and unfortunately, their reports were troubling. Sasuke was turning out to be a miniature version of his father, perhaps even worse. He had this delusion that everyone should bow down and worship him and the fact that the village was giving him everything he wanted only fuelled the flames. Sasuke was obsessed with revenge and hung onto his hatred and from what his subordinates had reported, it appeared as if he also held on to the hatred he had acquired for others, fusing them together. In any case, it was clear that Itachi's plan had worked too well and instead of redeeming the Uchiha Clan, with the road Sasuke was going down right now, it seemed as if he was going to end up incriminating the Uchiha Clan even more. He had that Uchiha trait in which they believed that they were above everyone else and couldn't stand being proven wrong.

Danzo couldn't help but notice the irony when he was told that Sasuke was looking to "put Naruto in his place". Fugaku and Minato had a similar relationship; especially when Fugaku would try and provoke Minato into a fight and Minato refused to humble him. He also couldn't help but notice the irony when he heard that Sasuke had threatened to kill the Hyuga heiress and she ended up beating him. Fugaku had tried something similar with Kushina and it had ended up being the biggest mistake of his life as Kushina and retaliated and Danzo's hands involuntarily flew over his crotch as he remembered that Fugaku had narrowly avoided getting castrated. Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned and Fugaku was lucky to escape with his reproductive system in tact, though not undamaged, though the damage hadn't been permanent.

In any case, this posed a problem. Danzo knew that Sasuke was unstable and Naruto had undoubtably made things worse and there lay the problem. Danzo had plans for Naruto that involved him being alive and yet, he was involuntarily pushing the Uchiha heir further and further into darkness and making the possibility of him betraying the village more and more believable, though Danzo knew that Sasuke didn't consider himself loyal to Konoha. In his mind, Konoha should be loyal to him and Danzo knew that eventually the knowledge that he was wrong was going to drive Sasuke away and Naruto could potentially guarantee that it would be sooner rather than later and unfortunately, he could not kill Sasuke as he knew that Itachi would make good on his threat if he discovered that anything had happened to Sasuke.

However, he already thought up of a plan to at least appease the Civilian Council for now. In the past, Danzo had always managed to appease them and get Naruto off the hook; albeit for his own personal ambitions since he was in their good graces and many blindly looked up to him. In was a well known fact that Jinchuriki were mostly viewed as weapons by their respective villages and only used as trump cards. Many had similar treatment as to what Naruto had while growing up, the only difference between them and Naruto was the Bijuu sealed in Naruto had attacked the village before being sealed inside its host and since it had killed a lot of people; the majority of the village were too blinded by their grief over the loss of their loved ones and their rage at the Kyuubi for killing them that they failed to see the benefits that Naruto could provide for the village in future. Of course, there were others who wanted Naruto dead for other reasons, like those who saw him as an obstacle between them and his father's assets.

Danzo was not so foolish. The Kyuubi was the strongest of the nine Bijuu and so, if Naruto was trained properly, then Konoha could have the ultimate trump card; the strongest of the Jinchuriki and that suited Danzo's plans perfectly. However, despite Danzo's wishes to see Konoha the greatest of the five main hidden villages, he had wanted Naruto as his own personal weapon and not Konoha's, since he felt only he should be allowed to control Naruto as Konoha's future leader and unfortunately for him, Hiruzen had blocked all his past attempts at recruiting Naruto into ROOT. Hiruzen was a major obstacle in his way, but he knew better than to try and assassinate his former friend. Hiruzen was smart and knew that he still operated his ROOT organisation despite the fact he had disbanded it. Danzo feared that if he did make a move, then Hiruzen would have the proof he needed to have him incarcerated, if not executed as Danzo knew that his actions would be seen as treason.

The only reason ROOT still existed was because when Hiruzen disbanded it, the majority of its members were not too happy about it and remained fiercely loyal to their leader and so Danzo kept the organisation running in secret, though Hiruzen knew about it, but was powerless to do anything due to the fact he could not prove it, plus Danzo knew that his old ex-friend was keeping a close eye on him; waiting for him to slip up and give him something he could use to expose him to the public and Danzo knew that Hiruzen fully anticipated an assassination attempt and Danzo knew better than to challenge the old Hokage. He may no longer be in his prime, but Danzo knew that Hiruzen was still quite powerful and he also knew that in a fight that Hiruzen was stronger than he was… at least for the time being.

Anyway, listening to the heated arguments, Danzo knew that things had to be wrapped up quickly, otherwise it could come to blows, since this time, the Shinobi Council were quite adamant in their stance and would not relent, even an inch. Luckily, he had already formulated the perfect plan to both get Naruto off the hook, while at the same time, appeasing the Civilian Council with regards to Sasuke.

"Enough!" he stated sternly as he glared throughout the room, causing everyone present to stop and stare at him, "It's pretty clear that we're faced with a predicament here. The students are quite adamant in their stance that if the boy is punished, then they will walk out and we'd have lost many promising ninja."

"Who the hell cares?" one arrogant civilian dismissed smugly, "This village is great enough with the ninja it already has. There's no need to add any more to the roster."

"Also, it's clear from witness statement from the heirs of our esteemed Shinobi Council as well as quite a few onlookers that Uchiha Sasuke was the one who made the first move," Danzo went on, ignoring the councilman's snide remark, "So what I propose is this. Uzumaki Naruto will not receive any form of punishment…"

"WHAT!" many of the civilians shouted in outrage, shooting Danzo looks of disbelief, but he just returned those looks with a glare out of his left visible eye.

"Let me finish," he stated in a tone that let the council members know that he was not in the mood for backtalk before clearly his throat, "As I was saying, we will not be punishing Uzumaki Naruto and we won't punish Uchiha Sasuke either."

This caused many eyes to widen and Hiruzen gave his old rival and former friend a rather suspicious stare.

"Just what are you planning Danzo?" he thought, trying to figure out what it was that his ex-friend was up to as he knew that Danzo hardly ever interfered in matters such as this unless he was hoping to gain something out of it.

"However, I have noticed that over the years, young Sasuke has become more and more violent and volatile," Danzo went on, looking around the room as he grabbed everyone's attention, "He's becoming more and more unpredictable and he clearly has issues with authority."

"Well, duh, he's the last Uchiha and he's obviously looking for revenge against his traitorous brother," a smug woman among the civilians stated.

"If only you knew," Danzo thought to himself with a sigh.

"Anyway, I can't help but notice that this behaviour has gotten worse as of late; to the point where he attacks his own classmates and future comrades," he went on without giving the woman a glance, "So what I propose it to have him undergo psychological therapy sessions with the Yamanaka Clan."

"Over my dead body," Inoichi protested furiously, shaking his head with a stern look on his face, "Therapy won't do jack-shit for that little bastard. Maybe if he had been sent to us not long after the massacre, we could've done something, but it's too late now. He's too far gone."

"You dare insult the last of the Uchiha you insensitive fool," a man on the civilian side remarked, "The boy lost his entire family overnight. You'd do well to have more sensitivity Yamanaka-san."

"I'm well aware of that," Inoichi replied with a sigh, "But he's been left to his own devices for too long and need I remind you that you and the rest of the Civilian Council have done nothing about it except bow down and kiss his feet at the drop of a hat and give him everything he's basically demanded, which… by the way is a factor in his current state. Maybe if you had been thinking with your brains and not caught up in your own delusional fantasies, he could have come to us a lot earlier and we could have helped him then, but no; it's too late."

"I'm afraid you have no say in this Yamanaka-san," Danzo commented with a strange look in his eyes as he stared at the Yamanaka patriarch, "Would you rather leave him to his own devices and have him potentially betray the village later?"

Inoichi glared at the old warhawk as he realised that Danzo had a point. Leaving Sasuke alone could be even worse. He knew about Sasuke from what Ino had told him over the years and Sasuke's cruel treatment of Naruto. He had to admit that when Ino had still been a loyal fangirl of Sasuke's, he had been at his wits end, fearing what the arrogant Uchiha would do to his little princess, fearing that he would one day force himself upon her. In that respect, he was thankful to Naruto, as it had been through him that Ino had been enlightened as to the Uchiha bastard's true colours, which Inoichi summed up as, arrogant, self-absorbed, delusional and someone who would rather force himself on women just to prove that he was stronger than them. He found himself glad that Ino had become wise to Sasuke since he knew that if Ino had brought him home, saying that he was her boyfriend, he would've probably suffered a stroke.

"Enough!" Hiruzen shouted out, grabbing everyone's attention, "As much as I hate to say it, I have to agree with Danzo's idea since he does bring up valid points."

Inoichi's eyes widened in shock and he opened his mouth to protest.

"However," Hiruzen went on before Inoichi could get a word out, "Uchiha Sasuke will be put on probation and Inoichi-san will report any progress to me. If there is no progress within the week, then Uchiha Sasuke will be dealt with."

That silenced Inoichi's protests immediately as it wasn't a total loss. Sure, he would have therapy sessions with the bastard Uchiha, but if there was no progress then he would be punished for his actions. That satisfied him greatly.

The Civilian Council seemed content with this since Sasuke in therapy could possibly be used to their advantage and make it easier to manipulate him. That was what Danzo had been counting on. He had played off the Civilian Council's ambitions and brought up valid points that they had been very much aware of, but had ignored in the past. By mentioning potential consequences, plus the fact that it was him that had said it, as the Civilian Council looked up to him, it was easy to get them to agree to it and who knows, the therapy may work, though Danzo was not one to take chances as he knew that Inoichi was probably right in how it was too late for the Uchiha heir. However, for now, he decided to go along with the Civilian Council's plans as he could not do anything else. However, he would still have Sasuke monitored and should he show signs that he was planning on betraying the village, Danzo would have him dealt with, though he needed to find a way to get Itachi off his back before hand.

As for Naruto, he'd leave him alone for now. He had so many friends now that Danzo knew that it would be impossible for an opportunity to recruit him to come along in the near future. However, he would not give up. He would have Naruto one way or another. He had noticed two years previously that Naruto had befriended three girls, who consisted of the Yamanaka and Hyuga heiresses and Haruno Takeshi's daughter. Takeshi had been the best friend and right hand man of the Yondaime as well as an excellent kenjutsu master. In fact when both Minato and Takeshi graduated from the academy, Takeshi had been Minato's close second in terms of power.

"And his daughter's friends with Minato's son," the old warhawk thought evilly with a grin as he looked over at Haruno Fuhei, who filled in for late husband on the Shinobi Council, perhaps one of few on the Shinobi Council who hated Naruto, "This could prove useful to me."

The Harunos weren't a big shinobi clan; in fact, they weren't much of a clan at all with most of them being civilians. However, a few of them were ninjas and they had enough influence within the village to earn a seat on the Shinobi Council and their influence was brought to new heights when the Yondaime came to power. Many of the Civilian Council believed that Takeshi and his family only gained this boost because the Yondaime had been playing favourites since they had both been friends since before their graduation. However, Danzo knew better. Takeshi wasn't just good at kenjutsu, but he was also a great tactician, good at coming up with seemingly impossible strategies and when it came to helping run the village, Takeshi proved himself as an excellent advisor since he looked over situations and was able to recognise mistakes and ways to improve on the situation. Heck, Danzo doubted if the village would have been able to prosper if Minato had chosen Takeshi out of favouritism. Minato did listen to others and carrying out their ideas, sometimes even over Takeshi's own. No, it was not favouritism or anything like it. Takeshi was just extraordinarily smart, though Danzo had to wonder if it was because of his big forehead, which his daughter had inherited and Sakura also proved to be rather smart just like her father, though she did not inherit her father's love for kenjutsu and was particularly good with genjutsu; like her mother.

"Perhaps I can use those three to help my plans for the boy," he thought as he pondered him options, "They could prove useful in helping me manipulate him."

He knew that he had to tread very carefully here. Two of the girls were clan heiresses and the last one's mother was fiercely protective of her daughter. Despite Haruno Fuhei's apparent hatred for Naruto and her daughter's friendship with him, for some reason, Fuhei had done absolutely nothing about it. She had given up trying to discourage her daughter's association long ago and allowed Sakura to do as she pleased, though she would not let her bring the boy into her home. It stunned Danzo as to why, though he had a guess that it was because Fuhei feared being alone since the loss of her husband and Sakura was all she had left.

As for Ino and Hinata, Danzo knew that the former Yamanaka matriarch, Yamanaka Shiori had divorced Inoichi after he made his views on the matter apparent and since then, the Yamanaka patriarch had been rather protective of his daughter in much the same way Fuhei was of Sakura, though unlike Fuhei, he had welcomed Naruto into his home and even encouraged his daughter to bring him. Danzo knew that he wouldn't have any major issues with her. One of the members of his ROOT was himself, a Yamanaka and that would possibly make things easier.

As for Hinata, Danzo knew that using her would be the greatest challenge as she was a member of the Hyuga Clan and its heiress and he knew that unlike the Harunos and Yamanaka Clan, the Hyuga Clan had a massive amount of influence within the village and did not take kindly to their clan members being used for other people's gains, especially when those members happened to be part of the Main Household and to make matters worse, Hinata was their heiress and despite Hiashi's cold exterior and constant denials, Danzo knew that the Hyuga patriarch cared deeply for his daughter and that the Hyuga Clan were more than capable of dealing with ROOT if it came to war. The Hyuga Clan was perhaps the most frightening clan in all of Konoha and even Danzo himself feared their wrath for if you rubbed the Hyuga Clan the wrong way, it didn't matter who you were; even if you were the Hokage, if you upset the Hyuga Clan, the only thing that was certain was that you're life would get a lot more hellish; that is assuming they didn't kill you. Hinata would be the most difficult to deal with and Danzo knew he had to tread cautiously as he knew that if he upset her father, then his only hope for survival would be to fake his own death and get as far away from Konoha as he could get.

The woman sat in the room with her hands clasped in front of her as she rested her elbows on the desk in front of her as she looked around the room, listening to the heated arguments and how Danzo came up with a solution to calm down those power-hungry fools on the civilian side. Send the Uchiha to therapy; that was a good one. Like that would work. Like Inoichi had said, too much time had already passed and now it was probably too late for him. The therapy may be effective in downplaying his behaviour, but it would not change him. Not that she cared for the foolish avenger or anything; she was just interested in him due to his association with Naruto.

"I swear, every time I lay eyes on that disgusting little rat, I see you laughing in my face, mocking my very existence like you always did Uzu-mesu," she thought with seething fury boiling within her, "Damn you, damn you to Hell. You took everything from me."

Outwardly though, she displayed a posture of calm neutrality. Sure, at those meetings she put in her two cents against Naruto, but she never did anything too extreme. She didn't want to draw suspicion upon herself. Sure, the Sandaime had dismissed the incident two years previously in which she tried to push Naruto down the path of revenge since everything had led to a dead end, but she knew that being too forceful would draw too much unwanted attention that she just could not afford. She knew the value of patience and if she wanted to get rid of Naruto, then she'd just have to be patient.

However, she feared that someone else may end up beating her to the punch and manage kill Naruto before she had a chance to set her plans in motion, which was why she took an interest in Sasuke, as she knew that Sasuke was undoubtably looking to kill Naruto to satisfy his injured pride. Having someone else kill Naruto before she could was something that she just could not accept. Naruto was hers to kill. It was her job to rid the world of the Uzu-mesu's legacy, though if she wasn't the one to kill Naruto then she'd be content if Naruto died as a result of her plans; otherwise she absolutely despised the idea of someone else managing to do what she believed was her duty. However, she knew that she could do nothing about it other than bide her time and hope that he would remain alive long enough for her to set her plans in motion.

Danzo would be a problem, as she knew that he wanted Naruto as a weapon, but she already had the means to deal with him. She had met with Danzo countless times in the past, but she had always worn a disguise so he would not know her true identity. She had been the one who had enlisted ROOT's help in getting rid of the Uzu-mesu, after all. She had a hold over Danzo and she was prepared in case he did manage to uncover her true identity as she knew that with the resources he had at his disposal, it would be pretty easy for him to uncover her identity. It didn't worry her though. If he did uncover her identity and turn up looking for her, she'd just have all the information she had acquired of his past misdeeds and foul play made public. She already had measures in place to ensure that that information would get into the public domain should anything happen to her. If Danzo succeeded in eliminating her, then she'd have the last laugh as the information she possessed would make it into the public domain anyway.

"Crippled old fool," she thought, giving the old warhawk a brief glance, "Vengeance will be mine, even if I have to burn this village down to the ground, I will eradiate all traces of that woman's bloodline."

She knew that she would undoubtably have to wait years before her plans yielded results. After all, being a former kunoichi, sometimes while on missions, she sometimes had to wait for long periods of time before the tree bore the fruits of her labour. However, she also knew that there was a possibility that her plan could fail in which case; she needed to think up of a contingency plan. She had to be prepared for all possibilities and that included those that would cause her plans to fail and she needed to find ways to turn those potential failures around and turn them into success.

"I may need to wait a little longer than I thought," she mused to herself, "Those three bothersome girls and now the bothersome heirs of most of the shinobi clans have indeed thrown a wretch into the works, I may be forced to initialise plan B."

Now that was risky, for her "plan B" would definitely be seen as treason if she was caught and she knew that she would face a harsh penalty if she was caught. However, she didn't care. If the village had been smart, they would have risen up; overthrown the Sandaime and then deal with Naruto themselves, but many were too afraid of the Sandaime to even attempt it. The woman saw them all as weak and if her plans resulted in Konoha's destruction… well, she felt that the populace deserved it for being too weak to overthrow the old coot and have him executed for his support of the "demon brat".

The Civilian Council, whom she knew were only after the Namikaze Clan's assets and resources, were too afraid to try it. The Sandaime had been a powerful shinobi in his prime, but did they not see that he was an old man and not as strong as he used to be? If they would all band together, there was no way the old man could defeat them all. Didn't they all realise that; obviously not. She could not stand such weakness. Of course, she knew better than to challenge the Sandaime herself. He was still quite powerful for his age and the woman knew she'd lose. However, she believed that he could be overpowered with sheer numbers. A village too weak to overthrow a leader who was against their beliefs, in her mind didn't deserve to exist and so, she did not care if her plans resulted in Konoha's destruction as she had already made arrangements with Iwa to let her and her daughter stay in their village should Konoha fall.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura was currently at Konoha's main library, which was owned by her aunt, Haruno Kori, her late father's little sister. Shikamaru and Shino were both accompanying her as she sat at a desk with Shikamaru and Shino standing behind her as they were all reading a book about war… or more specifically, the section of the book that explained Jinchuriki.

"Okay, so Jinchuriki are people that have had Bijuu sealed inside them since they were babies," Sakura said as she read the book with both Shikamaru and Shino looking on behind her, "The Bijuu must be sealed within the person before their chakra coils fully develop otherwise the process may end up killing them. Those who become Jinchuriki will initially be able to tap into the Bijuu's chakra, as the Bijuu's chakra merges with that of their host and become crafted into the host's keirakurei that should they be separated, the host dies, the Bijuu will still live."

"And you think that Naruto-san may be the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko," Shino stated, stoic as ever, though Sakura and Shikamaru both knew that he was curious.

"Well yeah," Sakura commented with a nod, "Naruto-kun's birthday in 10th October and being eight-years old, his date of birth falls on the exact same day that the Kyuubi attacked the village."

"Also, the treatment Naruto's endured for most of his life, plus the screams of words like monster and demon are more clues," Shikamaru went on, picking up where Sakura left off, "Plus, I read somewhere that, being beings of pure chakra, no mortal can kill even the weakest of the Bijuu, the Ichibi no Tanuki also known as Shukaku. So the Yondaime was unable to kill the Kyuubi."

"And he sealed the Kyuubi inside Naruto-kun as another way of defeating it," Sakura finished, feeling a bit angry; angry at the Yondaime for condemning Naruto to such a harsh and hateful life, "I realise he probably believed that he had no other choice, but he could have made better arrangements for Naruto-kun and just why did he choose Naruto-kun anyway?"

"I don't know," Shikamaru said with a sigh, "But I do know that many Jinchuriki are viewed as weapons and many suffer the same kind of treatment that Naruto suffered and many end up becoming dehumanised machines because of it. Some are driven insane and become every bit as monsters as the one sealed inside them."

"Naruto-kun's not a monster!" Sakura stated loudly, glaring at the Nara heir, "He may have one sealed inside him, but that's not his fault. It's not like he asked to have that monstrosity sealed inside him. The Kyuubi killed my father and Ino-chan's uncle, not Naruto-kun."

"My apologies," Shikamaru said in an apologetic tone, "I never meant to imply that he was. When a bomb is sealed in a box, the box is still a box; not the device inside it. I was just commenting on what happened to Jinchuriki in the past."

Sakura nodded, calming herself down.

"I'm sorry I snapped," she apologised with a sigh, "It's just that Naruto-kun doesn't know about it and I frightened on what would happen if he found out."

"Quite," Shino stated simply, "Though one thing bothers me. If Jinchuriki are mostly viewed as weapons, then why are the villagers trying to kill Naruto-san? The Kyuubi is the strongest of the Bijuu. Wouldn't they see him more of a benefit to the village?"

"You have to remember that the Kyuubi killed an awful lot of people; many who had loved ones within the village," Shikamaru pointed out simply, "The people are probably blinded by their grief and rage to see that. They see the monster that attacked the village and killed their loved ones and as far as they're concerned, getting their revenge is more important than any benefit having the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko as an asset could ever be."

"I see," Shino said, shaking his head, "It's sad though. Naruto-san's done nothing wrong and the villagers are all punishing him for crimes that the beast inside him committed and even if that wasn't the case, he would have probably been made into a weapon."

"That won't happen," Sakura stated with fierce determination in her eyes, "Naruto-kun's just a boy, plain and simply; not a weapon to be used as a trump card when all else fails and not the Kyuubi no Yoko itself. I hate the Kyuubi for killing my father, but I don't hate Naruto-kun. He's just its prison."

Shikamaru and Shino both nodded in agreement.

"Though I still wonder why the Yondaime chose Naruto-kun," Sakura went on in wonder, "Why would he just up and lift a random child to defeat the Kyuubi and what about Naruto-kun's parents? Were they killed as well or did they abandon him?"

"Have you seen pictures of the Yondaime?" Shino asked, seeming out of the blue, causing the other two to look at him with questioning looks.

"Come on, I said have either of you seen any pictures of the Yondaime?" the Aburame heir asked again, giving them both a serious stare.

"Of course we have," Shikamaru spoke up as he looked over at the wall to his left where a picture of the late Yondaime hung, "There's his picture right there, though I don't see what…"

He stopped as he noticed the picture and Sakura also noticed it and both studied the picture closely and their eyes widened in shock.

"T-t-that's Naruto-kun," Sakura said with an expression of pure disbelief.

Shikamaru nodded as he studied Shino and from the looks of it, Shino had noticed the picture long before they did.

"Gee, Naruto resembles the Yondaime," Shikamaru said in disbelief, "Just how the Hell did I miss that?"

He was supposed to be a genius, when he put his mind to it and yet he had completely overlooked Naruto's resemblance to the Yondaime, perhaps in part; due to his laziness.

"Troublesome," he muttered to himself.

"If that's true, then that means that…" Sakura started to say before trailing off, though she to was at a loss to explain how she could have overlooked Naruto's resemblance to the Yondaime.

"Yondaime-sama was probably Naruto-san's father," Shino finished for her.

"But wait, the Yondaime never married," Sakura pointed out as she remembered in their history class when they were covering the Yondaime's life that there was no mention of him getting married.

"Well, if he did get married, then the wedding was probably conducted in secret," Shikamaru summarised with a hard look on his face, "Don't forget, the Yondaime made an awful lot of enemies, especially in Iwagakure during the last Great War. If they discovered that he had settled down and started a family, they may target his loved ones just to get to him."

Sakura nodded, knowing that that was true. The Yondaime had made a lot of enemies, especially in Iwa since he had single-handedly decimated their entire army in a short space of time. It wouldn't be surprising if Iwa was still sore over their loss. She knew that whenever Konoha hosted the Chunin Exams, Iwa did not send any of their genin to participate and the same with Iwa; Konoha did not send any of their genin to participate whenever Iwa hosted the exam… well they had done the first two or three times, but none of their genins came back alive; apparently all having perished during the exam and their had been reports of unofficial fights to the death between Iwa-nin and Konoha-nin whenever one of the other hidden villages hosted the Chunin exams.

It made sense why Naruto's heritage was covered up. Sakura guessed that many of the villagers were too consumed in their anger and hate to notice the resemblance between Naruto and his father or if they did, they probably mistakenly believed that the Kyuubi had assumed a human form similar to the Yondaime in order to mock them. It only served to increase her newfound hatred of the Yondaime. How could he do that to his own son? Of course, she knew that he had no other choice and probably did what he felt was right, but what she was angry about with the arrangements he had set in place and what of Naruto's mother? Had she died in child birth or did she abandon him, believing what the rest of the villagers believed? In any case, she found herself rather angry at the whole situation. The Yondaime should have made better arrangements to ensure his son's future.

Standing up, she closed the book she and the two boys had been reading and walked over to the bookshelves and put it back where she had got it and then made her way towards the exit.

"Let's go," she said to Shikamaru and Shino in a stern tone that told them that she was in no mood for arguments.

The two boys followed suit as they both struggled to get their heads round the revelations that had just discovered.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, Haruno Kori watched them go, having overheard their either conversation. Needless to say, she found herself absolutely infuriated at them for what they discovered.

"Curse them, they know too much," she cursed under her breath.

Kori was a rather stunningly beautiful woman with a rather fine body with waist-length reddish brown hair; much like her brother's and cold cruel dark ice-blue eyes. She wore a pair of black sandals, a long reddish pink skirt and a light pink blouse with the white Haruno Family O emblem on the back identifying her as a Haruno and like her brother and niece, she had a rather wide forehead; a Haruno Family trait.

"Damn it Fuhei, how could you let that daughter of yours socialise with that repulsive vermin that should never have been born in the first place?" she ranted on quietly as she marched over to the bookshelves where Sakura had been and grabbed the book Sakura had been reading; furiously pulling it off the shelf and then she turned and glared furiously at the picture of the Yondaime that the Aburame heir had noticed and then she let out a loud scream and threw the book at the picture.

"You should have been mine Minato-teme and yet you chose that Uzumaki slut over me when I have more beauty in the tip of my pinkie toe than that whore could ever possibly hope to have in her entire body."

That summed up Takeshi's little sister pretty much. Despite her beauty, she was as evil and as nasty as they came; a gold digger only interested in marrying men for their status and wealth and she absolutely had a deep loathing hatred her brother, who had cut her off from the family inheritance.

Anyone that knew Haruno Kori would know that she had a rather extreme obsession for money and power. They were her soul mates. In the past, she had pretty much thrown her money away, spending it on this, that and the next thing and Takeshi had started to see this as a problem and had feared that she would run the Haruno Family into bankruptcy and so had cut her off financially.

Infuriated and enraged over this, Kori had started to sell herself off in the hopes of getting into a clan in order to continue her spending habits. However, none of her clients who were in clans were particularly interested in her, which infuriated her. To them, it was nothing more than a one-night stand and that was that. The money she had gained was good, but she found herself spending it relatively quickly.

However, eventually, her brother's best friend became Hokage and she knew that if she could get in with the Hokage, she could have access to the village treasury, which would be monumental for her spending habits. However, like most of the others, Minato wasn't interested, though she blamed that on her brother, since she knew that he must've told Minato about her habits and to make matters worse, Minato already had someone in his life, though she didn't see what was so special about the woman and to top it off, she was an outsider and in Kori's mind, outsiders had no business in the affairs of the natives and even more infuriating still; Kushina had been Takeshi's teammate; thus she blamed her brother for bringing them together; believing that Takeshi had played matchmaker.

It was a well-known fact that Minato had a fanclub of girls, but when Kushina entered the picture, she had scared most of them off. Only a few persisted and they were all beaten back. That infuriated her. Kushina was a kunoichi and Kori herself was a civilian. She hated it; hated how she was powerless to challenge Kushina and she heard that she and her brother had died, she had actually celebrated, especially Takeshi's death since she blamed him for the whole thing and believed that he had been out to ruin her life.

She had married since then, though she refused to change her surname. Her husband was a banker on the Civilian Council in charge of the biggest bank in Konoha, which she took advantage of; stealing money from customers' accounts and spending it while using money laundering to cover her tracks. Because of her husband's influence, she had been able to get the top job at the library, which was officially under the Haruno Family's control.

However, she found that she wanted more and she still desired to get in with a clan so she could plunder their finances for her own ends, though, now that she was married, she knew that it would almost be impossible. However, when she heard that her niece had developed an interest in Uchiha Sasuke, she saw an opportunity. The Uchiha Clan were the richest and most powerful clan in all of Konoha before the massacre that left the village with only Sasuke. She had planned on encouraging Sakura to force Sasuke to marry her in the hopes that she would allow her to have access to the Uchiha Clan's finances.

Unfortunately for her, her insufferable sister-in-law, who was really protective of her little girl knew about her and her habits and had kept Sakura away from her.

"_You won't corrupt my musume-chan with all your disgusting habits,_" Fuhei had told her, "_Takeshi-kun warned me about you and how you seem to enjoy plundering people into bankruptcy. I won't have Sakura-chan following in your misguided footsteps._"

Her face twisted into an expression of pure hatred as she remembered that encounter well.

"The nerve of that woman," she thought to herself furiously, "How dare she; HOW DARE SHE!"

Fuhei actually had the nerve to accuse her of bankrupting people. No one she had taken advantage of in the past had ended up bankrupt, had they? Though, she had a sneaking feeling that that was because no one had kept her around long enough for her to plunder their finances. However, she was too angry and full of herself to realise this.

It went without saying that Kori absolutely despised her sister-in-law as in her mind; she was nothing short of a female version of her brother. Like Takeshi, Fuhei had taken steps to ensure that the Haruno Family's finances were out of her reach and what infuriated Kori the most was that Fuhei wasn't even related to the Haruno Family by blood. Like Kushina, she had been an outsider, though she had hailed from Fuyu no Kuni and from what she had heard, she had come to Konoha seeking protection, though from what she did not know; neither did she care. The fact was that someone who had married into the family and who wasn't a Haruno by blood was in charge of the family; as per Takeshi's wishes.

Needless to say, it infuriated her. Even from beyond the grave, her brother still managed to torment her and having an outsider as the head of the family was something Kori considered an insult. She should be head of the Haruno Family, not her sister-in-law. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do about it. Fuhei was a former kunoichi and highly trained. She knew that to take Fuhei on would be suicidal and unfortunately, it was too late for her to start training in the ninja arts. One really had to train from a really young age in order to be an effective ninja. For her, life seemed so unfair. She could never defeat her sister-in-law, therefore never gaining the position of Haruno Family Head and Naruto was nothing more than a reminder of her failure to seduce the Yondaime.

She hated Naruto for that; that his very existence was because, as she saw it, her failure to get in with the Hokage; not because of the Kyuubi, though it did serve as a good excuse. In fact, in many ways she was rather thankful to the Kyuubi for getting rid of her brother and quite possibly Kushina as well. It was just that Naruto was the spitting image of his father and therefore served as a reminder of her failure and it didn't help matters that her niece had befriended him and given up on the Uchiha heir because of him. It was like Takeshi, Minato and Kushina were all mocking her, laughing in her face.

Glaring again at the picture of Minato, she huffed.

Now three children, one of which was her niece now knew the truth and she couldn't help but wonder where that would leave them in the Sandaime found out. Sakura may be that woman's daughter, but unlike that woman, she was related by blood to the Haruno Family and if the Sandaime decided to have her silenced just for not only knowing about the Kyuubi, but Naruto's true lineage then she valuable asset in her quest for more and more money. Of course, having said that, Kori knew that Fuhei had no doubt warned Sakura of her and her habits and desire for money. She would have to find some way to get past Fuhei and talk to Sakura.

Suddenly, just then her face lit up in an evil smile as she just thought of something.

"Oh I'm so evil," she laughed to herself, "Just why didn't I think of this before?"

Naruto was the Yondaime's son and therefore the heir to the Namikaze Estate and all its assets. Assuming that the Sandaime did not decide to have Sakura and those other two silenced, she could use Naruto and Sakura to her advantage. She knew that Naruto had driven a wedge between Fuhei and Sakura. They hardly ever talked to one another anymore unless it was unavoidable and Kori knew that Fuhei was only keeping Sakura around due to her fear of loneliness. She knew that Fuhei still loved her daughter, but Sakura was becoming more and more distant from her mother. She remembered the last time she saw Fuhei; her hair had been an absolute mess as if someone had messed it up and she also looked tired and rather distraught. She figured that with Sakura becoming more and more distant from her mother, she could swoop in and talk her into forcing herself on Naruto so that she could give her access to the Namikaze Clan's finances. Sakura was already Naruto's friend, so that would be easier and then she would take her revenge against her sister-in-law for carrying out her brother's wishes.

"Just you wait Yuki-mesu," she thought to herself evilly, "I'll be back on top once again and then I'm going to ruin you and the ironic thing is; your precious Sakura-chan's going to help me. The reminder of my past failure just became useful to me."

Of course, she knew that she'd have to be patient. Naruto didn't know of his heritage yet. She couldn't jump the gun, since she knew that things could go wrong, but she'd have to hope that nothing happened. Sakura and Naruto were key to getting her life back on track and where she believed she belonged.

* * *

**Glossary**

Hi no Kuni – Land of Fire

Ta no Kuni – Land of Rice Fields

Uzu no Kuni – Land of Whirlpools

Fuyu no Kuni – Land of Winter

Iwagakure no Sato – Village Hidden in the Rocks

Iwagakure – Hidden Rock

Iwa – Rock

Shumatsu no Tani – Valley of the End

Mori no Senju Ichizoku – Senju Clan of the Forest

Konoha Keimu Butai – Leaf Military Police Force

Konoha-nin – Leaf Ninja

Iwa-nin – Rock Ninja

Ichibi no Tanuki – One-Tailed Racoon Dog

Yuki-mesu – Snow bitch

Daimyo – Feudal Lord

* * *

**Author's notes **– That was a rather long chapter. Now that I've got everything established, we can move into canon now and I can guarantee you that it won't be carbon-copy anime scenes (Naruto isn't the idiot the manga and anime portray him as in the beginning and Sakura doesn't bash his brains whenever she feels like it). As for Sasuke, therapy was the best I could come up with. Like Inoichi, Danzo and the woman predict, it won't work, but it will teach Sasuke to be patient and he won't act up again until after he's experienced the power of Orochimaru's curse mark, though he will start to feel furious at Naruto before hand. I've read fics about how the civilian council only want Naruto out of the way so they can claim Minato's assets for themselves and also, I read a lot of fics that have Danzo as Sasuke's diehard supporter when in canon, it was Danzo who wanted to kill Sasuke for his betrayal, so I decided to go for something in between. Danzo will play ball with the civilian council for the time being, but if Sasuke acts up, he'll have him dealt with and the woman is someone to watch out for. As I said before, her identity will remain secret until near the end and as for Kori. Well, since Hinata has family issues with Senkei planning her death, I felt that Sakura and Ino needed some familial problems, though I can tell you now that Sakura won't go for her aunt's idea. As for Ino's scenario, I do have something planned for her family, though that will be for later. Also Sakura, Shino and Shikamaru wont reveal what they're discovered as they feel that Naruto's not ready to know that, though all of the Rookie Nine (include Mr I think I'm better than everyone else) will discover the truth a lot sooner and for Sasuke; it'll only add to his hatred for Naruto. Also, last chapter I recall mention that Sakura wouldn't have the courage to fallow through on her decision to kill Sasuke and that she's stop at the last second and in the latest manga chapter, she did just that. In truth, I was half-expecting Karin to try and kill her once she'd healed her. Maybe now that Naruto's seen Sasuke, he can put his own personal feelings aside and deal with Sasuke instead of trying to reason with him since I believe that Sasuke's beyond any help. Well, at least Naruto became smart enough to know that Sakura didn't mean it when she said she loved him. If she had said something like that before the time-skip, he probably would have believed it. Also I want to ask you guys something. Do you think I should have Kushina alive or dead? I know that if Kishimoto decides to focus on Kushina's background, what I put in this chapter concerning her will be contradicted, but hey, the same can be said for Sakura's parents, so should I have a living Kushina who believes Naruto to be dead?


	10. Pass or fail, Graduation Exam

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 10 – Pass or fail, Graduation Exam**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

**Four years later**

It was a beautiful summer's day in Konohagakure no Sato with the sun beating down on the village illuminating it in its golden glow without a single cloud in the sky. The temperature was fairly warm with a soft breeze in the air; all in all it was a relatively peaceful morning and no one would suspect that anything was capable of shattering this peace. Unfortunately, if anyone was hoping for a quiet morning, then they were about to be in for a massive shock.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE VERMIN!" the high-pitched screeching voice of one, Haruno Fuhei came as she along with a platoon of jonins were currently chasing a twelve-year-old Uzumaki Naruto, who was laughing as loud as he could with a carefree look on his face as if he didn't have a care in the world and was having fun, "WHEN I CATCH UP WITH YOU, I'M GONNA RELIEVE YOU OF YOUR ABILITY TO REPRODUCE!"

The hands of the jonins behind her all reflexively flew over their crotches as they noticed the rage-filled woman violently swinging a meat-cleaver in front of her.

"THIS TIME YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR!" one of the men shouted out in an attempt to suppress his nervousness over Fuhei's threat in case she decided to turn on them to relieve her anger.

"YOU'VE REALLY OVERSTEPPED YOUR BOUNDS THIS TIME!" another shouted with the same motives in mind.

"Give it up," Naruto shouted back, still laughing and having a great time, "You're all just pissed off that you don't have the guts to stoop that low. Besides, it was all Sakura-chan's idea. You'll never take me alive ya bunch 'a losers, wannabes."

"HOW DARE YOU!" Fuhei screamed in pure absolute fury as she glared murderously at the annoying spiky-haired blonde, "HOW DARE YOU BRING MY MUSUME-CHAN INTO THIS VULGAR SCHEME!"

"That's for not letting me into your house all those years Fuhei-chan," Naruto shouted back in a rather boastful, somewhat mocking tone.

If anyone were to look up at the Hokage Monument, they'd see what the Haruno matriarch was so infuriated about. To the left of the Shodai Hokage's face was big woman who looked a lot like Fuhei with an overly exaggerated huge bust size and wearing a red two-piece bikini with her hands clasped behind her head ad striking a rather seductive pose. However, each of the four Hokage faces were painted in such a way that made them all seem like sex-hungry predators that were drooling over her and to the right of the Yondaime's face was a man that looked a lot like the late Haruno Takeshi who looked rather infuriated with the four Hokages and had a speech bubble coming out of his mouth that read, "Hey, that's my wife you're staring at ya bunch 'a perverted lunatics!"

Needless to say, Fuhei was absolutely enraged and infuriated over the whole thing. Not only had this "demon spawn" desecrated the memorial built in honour of the four greatest shinobi of their times, but she also felt that he had also violated her by including her image in his graffiti. She remembered after discovering her that many onlookers who had noticed her had taken a look at her breasts, which, though noticeable, weren't particularly all that impressive. Nevertheless, she had found herself crossing her arms over them despite being fully-clothed, feeling that the "demon brat" had robbed her of part of her dignity.

"I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!" she screamed furiously as Naruto jumped onto the rooftops and Fuhei along with the jonins all followed him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as they all frantically tried to catch the little rascal.

"Then come and get me if you can," Naruto dared in a mocking tone, "What's the matter, is your age catching up to you Fuhei-chan?"

Fuhei just screamed, even more determined to catch and hurt the annoying blonde.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen was busy performing calligraphy with a paintbrush and he held up the paper to the wall when two ninja burst in a rather hurried and panicked fashion.

"Hokage-sama!" one of the ninja said, panting for breath, "You must come quickly, it's an emergency!"

Hiruzen just scowled in annoyance; clearly not too pleased that his morning routine had been brought to an abrupt end.

"Don't tell me; let me guess," he sighed in annoyance, "Another atrocity committed by Naruto again."

"Hai, but this time it's serious," the second ninja said.

"Yes, and this time it is an atrocity," the first ninja said while nodded in agreement, "He's desecrated the Hokage Monument by painting graffiti over the Hokage faces; your honoured predecessors and he's also shamed the lady-wife of Takeshi-san."

Hiruzen groaned in annoyance. This was just all he needed, Ever since Naruto had started making friends, the one thing that did not stop were his pranks. In fact, his friends sometimes even assisted in them and gave him ideas, though most of his pranks were still just acts of revenge whenever someone rubbed him the wrong way.

"I suppose we can just be thankful he didn't turn out to be a murderous psychopath," he thought as he looked out the window, which was opposite the Hokage Monument and then his eyes widened in shock when he saw Fuhei's image clearly painted next to the Shodai's stone-carved face with a clearly outrageously oversized bust and blood suddenly gushed out of his nose as he involuntarily took a huge jump backwards, landing on the floor on his back with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Hokage-sama, are you going to be alright?" one of the ninja's asked in surprise, unable to believe what he had just seen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto landed in a street and then jumped back up to another rooftop.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Fuhei shouted with pure rage and venom dripping from her voice as she landed on the street and then followed Naruto back up to the rooftops.

"Man, she's a freakin' banshee," one of the jonin following her said as the platoon also landed on the street.

"You wanna tell her that; try telling it to her face," another said in a rather daring tone.

"Nuh-uh, that's suicide," the first jonin commented with a hint of fear in his voice, "I don't know about you, but I value my life."

"Whatever, let's just get on with our job," a third said as the entire platoon all jumped after Fuhei.

Unbeknownst the them; two sets of fingers seemed to phase out of the fence to the right of where they had stood and then Naruto emerged, pulling down a cloak that coloured and patterned the same as the fence, obviously built for camouflage.

"Kakuremino no Jutsu," Naruto said with a laugh, "I can't believe they missed it. Are they dull or what? I could be an enemy-nin for all they know and they're supposed to protect the village. Man, with security like that, however did Konoha remain at the top for so long? That was just too easy."

"Oh yeah Naruto!" a very stern and not-pleased voice came right up into his ear rather loudly, causing Naruto to jump in fright and then fall to the ground, landing in his butt as he turned to face the person who had spoken into his ear.

The man, who was leaning towards him, had short dark brown hair that was tied at the back into a short spiky ponytail and dark almost-colourless black eyes. Another feature was that running along the front of his face underneath his eyes was a scar that extended from the end of one eye to the other and he wore a regular ninja uniform that consisted of a dark blue jumpsuit with red circles on the side of each sleeve where the sides of his shoulders were, a green ninja vest with a red circle with a swirl pattern at the back, dark blue sandals, bandages wrapped from his ankles up to halfway between his ankles and knees, going the trouser leggings a slightly baggy look, bandages wrapped round his right thigh were his kunai and shuriken holder was supposed to go and he had his hitai-ate tied round his forehead.

"Oh…. H-hey Iruka-s-sensei," Naruto said with a nervous laugh, still sitting on the ground from his fall, "W-what are you doing here?"

"That's the question I was going to ask you," Umino Iruka replied with an angry "I'm in no mood for arguments" look on his face, "You're supposed to be in class, not gallivanting off vandalising the Hokage Monument with your perverted caricature of Haruno-san."

"Well, that's what she gets for not letting Sakura-chan bring me into her house," Naruto said with a huff, not pleased that he had gotten caught.

Iruka groaned as his eyebrow twitched. In truth, he was getting rather fed-up with Naruto's antics. It wasn't the first time Naruto had cut class to pull pranks Iruka had always been the one to literality drag him back, kicking and screaming like a spoiled brat who couldn't take not getting his way and it annoyed him to no end. It was clear that he was reaching boiling point, though in many ways, he couldn't really blame Naruto.

Naruto reminded Iruka a lot of himself when he was that age. Iruka's parents had been killed by the Kyuubi twelve years previously and Iruka remembered how he had been orphaned and how everyone round about him didn't seem to care and went on with there lives as if nothing had happened and as if his loss was unimportant. People moved on, he knew, but back then, he just couldn't accept it and his grief had started to affect his grades. So, in order to hide it and deal with it, he had played the part of an idiot and acted the clown just to get everyone to notice him and he didn't care if he was the one being laughed at or if the attention he got was in the negative. It was better than nothing.

In that respect, Naruto was the same, though Iruka didn't have lynch mobs to deal with. Like Iruka, Naruto had sought attention, not caring if it wasn't the sort of attention he had in mind. Most of Naruto's pranks had been acts of revenge whenever someone got one up on him, but they also served to have attention focused on him. It may not be the attention he wanted, but like with Iruka, it had been better than nothing.

Also like Iruka, Naruto had no parents, but unlike Iruka who knew who his parents were, Naruto didn't know who his were. As far as he was concerned, he was just an orphan and the boy the village despised for carrying the Kyuubi, either believing that the Kyuubi could possibly take over Naruto at any time or that he was the human form of the Kyuubi.

However, unlike the majority of the other villagers, Iruka couldn't bring himself to hate Naruto. Naruto contained the beast that murdered his parents; that much was true, but Iruka had come to realise long ago that Naruto was not the Kyuubi itself. He saw parallels between him and Naruto. Like him, Naruto may put on a brave carefree mask, but inside the fact that he had no parents and the fact that he was hated by most of the villagers was tearing him up inside. Iruka was one of the few who could see Naruto for who he truly was since Naruto faced many of the troubles he had faced as a child after his parents' death, though he did remember that at first, he did consider killing Naruto, though he had changed his mind after finding him crying.

* * *

**Eight years ago**

_Fifteen-year-old Umino Iruka was walking down the streets of Konoha holding a knife in his hand with a look of pure determination on his face. Today was the day he was finally going to avenge his parents; the day he was going to kill the monstrosity that had taken their lives; the Kyuubi no Yoko, which as many had believed had assumed a human form after its defeat at the hands of the Yondaime Hokage. Needless to say, Iruka was rather infuriated. His parents were dead because of that thing, leaving him alone and unloved._

_After he was informed that his parents were dead, he had been stricken with grieve. He was alone, orphaned and had no other relatives to take him in. His parents were the world to him and now they were gone. However, things continued to move on and Iruka felt ignored. No one seemed to care that he had lost his parents and had just waved it off like it never happened, prompting him to become the village fool and the class clown in order to get attention, not caring if he was the one being laughed at and it was all thanks to that disgusting fox in the form of a child. _

_He found the entire situation outrageous. How could it be allowed to live within the village walls? Why did the Sandaime treat it like a human being? He just couldn't understand it. This was the beast that killed so many people in its rampage four years ago. Why was it allowed to get off scot-free? It was an insult. Was the Sandaime really that much of a fool to be deceived by appearances. As a ninja, he had learned to see through deception and to know that even something that seemed so insignificant could be of great importance. Maybe the Sandaime was getting dull for his old age. His senses clearly weren't as sharp as they used to be._

"_No more," he thought to himself with a vengeful look in his eyes, "I'm going to end this today. That thing will pay for what it did to my parents."_

_It wasn't so hard to find where the "demon" was. He was currently staying at the village orphanage along with many others who had been orphaned by "its" rampage. It was clearly an insult. It was as if the Kyuubi was mocking them. Iruka didn't go to the orphanage as he had become a ninja a few months after the Kyuubi's attack a ninja and therefore considered an adult. He stayed in the house that his parents had lived in, though he had been forced to sell just about everything they had owned just to get enough money to get by, as the pay he received as a ninja wasn't enough to get him by; even more reason to see "it" dead. The beast had ruined his lives; destroyed is hopes and dreams and now he would settle for nothing less than vengeance._

_Reaching the orphanage, he snuck round to the back with the intention of sneaking in. His plan was to kill the "demon" and make it look like an accident… like he had accidentally slit his own throat while playing with a knife. He was sure that the matrons would let him in and let him do the deed, but he couldn't afford to risk the possibility that word may reach the Sandaime and if that happened, he knew he'd be done for. The Sandaime was pretty fond of the "demon" he knew and he also knew that he made periodic visits to the orphanage to check up on him, though the matrons had disguised their activities well and though the Sandaime knew otherwise, he had no proof in which to take action. Iruka was sure that this way, no one would get in trouble. If it was made to look like the "demon" had accidentally killed "itself" then there was nothing the Sandaime could do._

_However, as he reached the corner of the back of the building, he suddenly heard a sniffing sound. It wasn't the sort of sniff that someone made when they were smelling the air… it sounded as if someone was crying._

"_Why?" he heard a weak voice say, sounding rather hurt and upset, "Why does everyone hate me? I've done nothing wrong."_

_Taking a peek round the corner, Iruka saw a spiky blonde-haired boy curled up in a fetal position up against the wall and beside a dumpster with tears in his beautiful blue eyes. Iruka immediately knew who it was. It was his target, the "demon boy" and he lifted his foot with the intent to go over and do what he had set out to do. However, looking into the boy's eyes caused him to stop; his foot suspended in the air. Looking into the boy's eyes, Iruka saw nothing aside from loneliness, sadness and the pain of someone longing for acknowledgement and attention as well as a nice happy family. Iruka remembered seeing the same look in his own eyes whenever he looked at his reflection in the mirror. _

_This had to be a joke, he figured. There was no way that this "thing" could be crying. It was impossible; just an act. Monsters and demons were incapable of shedding tears, weren't they? However, the "demon" obviously believed that he was alone, so who was "it" trying to fool? There was no one around to see "it". Just what was "it" trying to achieve?_

_Shaking his head and reaffirming his resolve, he brought his foot down and started to make his way over to the "demon", but as he looked into the boy's eyes, he found his resolve weakening again. Why; just what was it that was stopping him? The "thing" that had killed his parents was so close to him, all he had to do was walk up to "it" and slight "its" throat and it would be over. It was as easy as that; so why was he hesitating?_

_Looking into the boy's eyes, he searched for telltale signs of deception. Perhaps "it" knew he was there and was just acting to draw him into a false sense of security, he figured, but as he looked into the boys big blue eyes, he found nothing to indicate deception or even evil intent. They weren't the eyes of an uncaring bloodthirsty monster. He couldn't find even a spec of malice or murderous intent within them. They were the eyes of a confused, hurt and lonely child who didn't know anything about why he was so hated and despised. _

_Needless to say, after seeing this, Iruka's grip on the knife lessened until it dropped out of his hand. Seeing the boy now and looking into his pain-filled eyes, he found that he couldn't bring himself to do it. This boy was no demon. He then remembered the Sandaime and how he said that the Kyuubi was sealed inside the boy and the boy was not the beast itself. It was then that Iruka came to realise just how true those words had been. Back then, he had been so caught up in his anger over losing his parents that he hadn't been listening to the Sandaime. All he thought about was the Kyuubi and how he wanted to make it pay. _

_Sighing to himself, he just turned and walked back the way he came, unable to look at the heartbreaking scene in front of him. This boy wasn't the evil demon everyone feared so much. The demon was just sealed inside him. The boy was the demon's living prison, nothing more._

* * *

**Present**

That had been an eye-opener for Iruka. Back then, he had seen Naruto for who he truly was for the first time and not what the villagers portrayed him as. Since then, he had been keeping an eye on Naruto, secretly observing him. A year after that incident, he had been prompted to chunin and immediately became a sensei at the Ninja Academy, vowing to help Naruto. Naruto, as it turned out was a lot like him, pulling pranks and making a fool out of himself just to earn attention. Sure, Iruka heard about the incident on 10th October six years ago in which Naruto had killed someone, but he knew that Naruto had been acting in self-defence.

Unlike him, Naruto had to deal with lynch mobs looking for his blood. However, until that incident, Naruto had never fought back; more proof that he was just a misunderstood child. If he had been the demon everyone thought he was, Iruka knew that he probably would have retaliated and killed his attackers. However, as with all humans; there was only so much Naruto could take and during that incident six years ago, Naruto had reached breaking point and lashed out. Needless to say, the villagers weren't too pleased and from then on, Naruto had started fighting back, though he never killed anyone; more proof as to just how wrong the villagers all were as a demon would have killed them, but unfortunately, they were all too consumed by their anger and hate to realise this.

It had been when Naruto had started making friends that Iruka really started to realise the truth. He had saved Sakura from her arch-nemesis, Ami who bullied her because of her huge forehead and all that talk about how Sakura never asked to be born with a big forehead made Iruka realise that Naruto never asked to have the Kyuubi sealed inside him. He really didn't have a say in the matter and Iruka had done research and discovered that the Yondaime's final wish was for Naruto to be viewed as a hero and he also did research into Jinchuriki and the circumstances surrounding them. It caused him to find an even greater understanding for Naruto.

However, that didn't mean to say that he played favourites. As a sensei, Iruka knew that it was unprofessional to let personal feelings influence his judgement and in that regard, he had always been rather strict with Naruto and did not let him off with slaps on the wrists. He wasn't lenient with Naruto despite how he felt. He knew that playing favourites wouldn't do Naruto any good and could possibly end up spoiling him, so he dealt with Naruto just like everyone else.

"Come on, let's go," was all he said in a tone that told Naruto that he was in no mood for arguments.

* * *

Later, Naruto was sitting at the front of the classroom tied up with ropes wrapped round his entire upper torso down to his waist and Iruka stood looking down at him with a furious look on his face.

"I swear Naruto, I'm getting really fed up with you," he lectured in a strict authoritative tone, "You've failed the graduation exam twice already and tomorrow you're going to get another chance and you're screwing it up again."

"Humph," Naruto let out, turning his head to the side as if to say, "I don't care". What Iruka didn't know was that Naruto had intentionally failed the last two attempts as he had wanted to graduate along with his friends, but they had all started attending the academy later than he did and so he had intentionally flunked with only Kakashi and the Sandaime knowing about it.

Iruka glared at him as he felt his eyebrow twitch as he restrained himself from shouting out at Naruto.

"Okay Naruto, if you want to be that way, fine," he said in a rather calm tone, though there was still a hint of anger in his voice, "We're all going to review the Henge no Jutsu since you decided to skip that class."

The other students all let out shouts and groans of protest, causing Iruka to turn and look at them.

"You can all thank Naruto for it," he said simply in an "end of story" type tone.

* * *

A short while later all the students were lined up at the front of the class waiting for Iruka to call their name. The exercise was quite simple. All they had to do was to assume Iruka's form successfully in front of him. Needless to say, the students were all not too happy about it as they had already been through this earlier that day, but unfortunately for them, Naruto had cut class to go pull some prank and most sent glares Naruto's way.

"So how was it?" Sakura whispered to Naruto in a rather excitable tone, curious about his prank.

"That went rather well," Naruto whispered back with a laugh, "Can't say your mom appreciated it though. She was trying to kill me."

Sakura just laughed.

"Well then, that's what she gets for refusing to let me bring you into our house."

"Haruno Sakura," Iruka's voice came rather loudly, causing both Naruto and Sakura to turn their attention back to him and Sakura walked out in front of Iruka.

"Okay Sakura, you know what to do," he said, looking up from his clipboard at Sakura.

"Of course Iruka-sensei, I've to henge into you, haven't I?"

"Yes," Iruka confirmed with a nod, "Now whenever you're ready."

Sakura nodded and then bought her hands in front of her chest and performed a single hand seal.

"Henge!" she stated as she appeared to burst into smoke with a strange popping sound that could be heard and once the smoke cleared, a second Iruka was standing where Sakura had stood.

"Right, transformed into me," he said with a satisfied nod as he took a pen and wrote down his observations on the paper attached to the clipboard.

The "second Iruka" then exploded into smoke, creating the popping sound and in "his" place was Sakura again, who just walked back to where she had been before she had been called out.

"**Shannaro,** **I kick some serious ass!**" Inner Sakura said with her fist in front of her in a victory pose and a rather cocky smile on her face, "**I rule.**"

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called out and Sasuke, who was at the far end of the line near the window just walked out rather lazily, though he glared furiously at Naruto.

Since that incident four years ago in which Hinata had humiliated, Sasuke had been attending therapy sessions with the Yamanaka Clan. However, unfortunately it wasn't doing him any good. He was still the same as ever; still wanting power to kill his brother and conquer the world, still wanting to kill Naruto and all those who he believed had wronged him, which included most of the senseis at the academy, including Iruka, the Clan Heads and the Hokage himself. Back then, he had been shocked to discover that he wasn't getting off with it as he had done so many times in the past and after so many years of getting his own way and getting off the hook, he just could not handle or accept getting punished, blaming Naruto, Hinata, the heirs of the major shinobi clans and the Hokage for it and he made a silent vow that as soon as he had gained enough power, he'd kill the whole lot of them for daring to, as he saw it, force him to abide be their rules and in his mind, it should be the Uchiha who make the rules. The Uchiha Clan should be the ones ruling over the village. The village should be loyal to them, not the other way about.

However, one thing the therapy sessions did do was teach him the value of patience. He knew better than to try and go against the village at that point. To do so would have resulted in his death. So he had decided to play along and bide his time; waiting for an opportunity to get his revenge against the entire village for, as he saw it; turning their backs on the Uchiha. Of course he knew that people still pampered him and gave him what he demanded from them, but that didn't matter. As far as he was concerned, they were just in his way. They were between him and his intended targets and had to die. However, for now, he'd just wait and bide his time; then he would destroy the village and once he'd killed Itachi, he would start rebuilding the Uchiha; not just as a clan, but as an army to conquer the world. He would rename the Uchiha Clan as the Uchiha Army and use them to spread fear and despair; just as he felt when his clansmen were taken from him. All in all, he'd make the entire world understand his pain by spreading it throughout the world.

For now, he'd just do this ridiculous exercise.

"Henge," he said rather dully before Iruka could say anything, surprising him.

Just as with Sakura, Sasuke appeared to burst into smoke, creating the popping sound and just like with Sakura, a second Iruka stood where Sasuke had been. However, the "second Iruka" almost immediately burst into smoke again as Sasuke quickly cancelled the henge and walked back to where he was standing before Iruka could get a word in.

"G-g-good," he said with a rather slow nod as he gave Sasuke a rather concerned look, as he knew of what happened with Sasuke and Naruto two years previously and how it had seemed to drive Sasuke further and further towards insanity.

However, Sasuke just shot him a furiously cold glare as if to say, "I'm gonna kill you someday, so enjoy the time you have left alive", which caused Iruka to shiver before regaining his composure.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he called out after clearing his throat.

"Damn it Naruto, this is all your fault," a random student growled quietly at him.

"Yeah, you always seem to drag the rest of us down with you," another student; a girl said in agreement.

"Get back to me when I decide to care, which'll be… never," Naruto shot back with a troubled angry look on his face and his hands on his hips, "If I can't have fun, I might as well ruin it for everyone else."

The students all glared at him as he made his way towards Iruka. Sure, since four years ago, the children had all warmed up to him, but considering the fact that many had abandoned him in the past, they knew that he was still pretty sore about it and as an act of revenge, he would constantly ruin their day with his pranks, which saw them all get punished. It was his way of saying "what comes around comes around".

Naruto stood in front of Iruka and formed the hand seal as he started gathering his chakra. Naruto had an unusually high reserve of chakra; so much that it would probably put most jonins or kages to shame and it was a well known fact that the more chakra one naturally had, the more difficult it was for them to control it and before training with Kakashi, controlling his chakra had been one of the major factors that had caused him to fail. So Kakashi had also incorporated chakra control exercises into the training regimen such as tree climbing in which he had to literally walk up a tree without the use of his hands, water walking, which had been more difficult and using his chakra to levitate a kunai off the palm of his hand and spin it. He also tried the leaf cutting exercise that Iruka had given his class way back. It had been rather difficult, but Naruto did eventually master all those exercises and was able to use his chakra to perform low-class jutsu, such as create three effective bunshins with the Bunshin no Jutsu, though it had taken him multiple tries to create three exact copies.

"Henge!" he shouted as he appeared to burst into smoke.

However, instead of a second Iruka like Iruka had been expecting, what appeared was a nude female sixteen-year-old version of Naruto with waist-length golden blonde hair tied into two pigtails and smoke covered "her" more private areas.

"Huh?" Iruka said as his eyes bulged in shock as the female Naruto gave him a rather seductive wink and blew him a kiss with "her" hand situated just under her mouth with her fingers aimed at Iruka.

Blood suddenly gushed out of his nose as he involuntarily made a huge jump backwards, landing n the floor on his back.

The female Naruto then burst into smoke and the original laughed while pointing at Iruka.

"How da ya like ma Oiroke no Jutsu?" he laughed as if the whole thing was hilarious, "I gotcha good."

Hinata, Ino and Sakura all sniggered where as Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru and Choji all shook their heads chuckling; aside from Shino who remained as stoic as ever.

"TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" Iruka yelled as he got back to his feet and his head seemed to grow till it was as big as his body and Naruto felt a strong wind blow by him as Iruka yelled at him, "I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU AGAIN!"

"How'd he do that?" Ino whispered to Hinata and Sakura.

"Beats me," Sakura said with a shrug.

"Ditto," Hinata agreed while looking at Iruka as his head returned to normal size.

* * *

Later, Naruto was standing on a scaffold suspended by ropes in front of the Nidaime Hokage's face on the Hokage Monument. After that stunt he pulled with Iruka in class, Iruka had decided to make him clean up the mess he had made earlier that day. However, the paint that Naruto had used had been a type of paint that didn't last for very long while exposed to the outside elements and most of the paint had already flaked and fallen off. Needless to say, Iruka still wanted Naruto to clean up what had yet to come off.

"Man this blows," Naruto grumbled to himself as he placed a cloth he was holding into the water-filled bucket beside him and then brought it to the area beside the Nidaime's nose, "What a sad-sack. Can't appreciate a good joke."

"And you're not going anywhere until you've washed off every last spec of paint," Iruka said from his position; sitting atop the Nidaime's head while sternly glaring down at Naruto.

"Gee sensei, you make it sound as if I have a family waiting for me back home," Naruto retorted with a huff and Iruka couldn't help but notice the hint of sorrow in his voice, causing him to think of a way to cheer him up.

He knew just how Naruto felt. He had done some crazy things back then when he was Naruto's age and just like Naruto, he had gotten into trouble. However, he just couldn't afford to be lenient. He felt that it would be unprofessional if he let him off easy. Iruka realised just immature he had been back then and Naruto was equally immature and he dished out punishments based on the punishments he had received. He believed that if they worked for him, then they'd work for Naruto. However, that didn't mean to say that he couldn't spend time with him.

Realising that he may have upset him, Iruka started thinking on how to cheer him up and then he had an idea.

"Hey Naruto," he said in a gentler tone as his expression softened.

"What da ya want now sensei?" Naruto asked in the same angry tone as before.

"I was thinking, once you finished up here, I could take you to Ichiraku's for some ramen," he said with a genuinely caring smile, "I know how much you like ramen, so what da ya say?"

Naruto's face immediately lit up with a big smile as he considered the prospect of swallowing down his favourite food.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout," he said rather excitedly, "Thanks sensei, I'll have this all cleaned up in no time."

Iruka just chuckled.

* * *

Later at the Ichiraku Ramen stand, Naruto and Iruka sat along with Sakura, Ino and Hinata, who had all been waiting for him near the Hokage Monument. Naruto was busy eating his bowl of ramen.

"So Naruto, why did you do that to the Hokage Monument and paint such a vulgar scene on it, I mean you do realise who those four people where, don't you?" Iruka said as he looked at Naruto curiously.

"Of course I know who they are," Naruto said, pausing from eating before going back to slurping up the noodles and then picked up his bowl and drank the rest before letting out a small sigh.

"Everyone knows who those four are," Ino said, rolling her eyes, "Even Naruto-ken here."

"They were the best of the best of there respective times," Hinata went on.

"Yeah, they were said to be the strongest shinobi in the village during their primes with Senju Hashirama and his younger brother, Senju Tobirama having founded Konohagakure no Sato and both Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama were the Shodai and Nidaime Hokages respectively," Sakura spoke up.

"And it's said that jiji was trained by the both the Shodai and Nidaime themselves," Naruto went on, "And the Yondaime was a student of one of the Densetsu no Sannin, who was one of jiji's students and he was the most amazing. He sacrificed his life twelve years ago to save the village from the Kyuubi no Yoko."

Sakura flinched at hearing this, remembering her discoveries four years ago about how she discovered that Naruto was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and how he was also the Yondaime's son; though mostly speculation, the fact that Naruto looked like a miniature version of the Yondaime seemed too great to be just a mere coincidence. Since discovering that the Kyuubi was inside Naruto, she had sworn both Shino and Shikamaru to secrecy, as she feared what would happen if the villagers found out that they knew the truth and were still defending him.

"Idiotic fools," she thought to herself, "Don't they realise that Naruto-kun's keeping the beast from destroying the village? Did they ever consider what would happen if they had killed Naruto? It may release the Kyuubi."

That was a terrifying thought. If Naruto died, the Kyuubi may be released to continue what it had started twelve years ago. However, many people were too blinded by their grief and anger to consider the potential consequences. Of course, many villagers believed that Naruto was the Kyuubi in human form and by killing Naruto, they would kill the Kyuubi.

Of course, it was just speculation. Perhaps the Kyuubi would die along with Naruto and Sakura knew that with the anger and hatred of the villagers being as strong as it was, they'd rather risk releasing the Kyuubi than allowing its container to live. It was pitiful. Naruto was being blamed for something he did not do and all because he was shouldering a burden that he never asked for. She couldn't help but hate the Yondaime for it. It was his fault that Naruto had to bare this horrible burden. Sure, Sakura knew that the Yondaime probably felt he had no other choice and that he probably couldn't bring himself to just snatch some random child if he wasn't prepared to do it to his own son, but Sakura felt that he should have made better arrangements to protect Naruto then he wouldn't have had to grow up like he did.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you seem rather troubled, something wrong?" Hinata asked, noticing Sakura's occupied look.

"Huh… oh it's nothing," Sakura lied with a laugh, "Just pre-graduation jitters I guess."

"Nonsense, I'm sure you'll do fine and pass with flying colours," Ino said as she slapped her hand on Sakura's back.

"So Naruto, just why did you…" Iruka started to say, still curious as to why Naruto vandalised the Hokage Monument in the way that he did.

"Three reasons," Naruto interrupted, knowing exactly what his sensei was going to say, "One, because it's my way of saying that I'm gonna surpass them all and became a ninja legend; me, Naruto, the Godaime Hokage and then everyone will have no choice but to stop disrespecting me and look up to me and so I can protect my friends. Two; Fuhei-san won't let Sakura-chan bring me into their house and I was looking for some payback."

He then paused with his chopsticks pointed at Iruka that he had pointed as he made his proclamation to be Hokage as Sakura sniggered at the thought of Naruto getting some payback on her mother as Fuhei had still refused to allow her to bring Naruto into her house.

"Third, I wanted to test the village's security," Naruto went on as his face became serious, "I wanted to see just how easy it would be for an enemy-nin to elude capture and I have to say that security's pretty pathetic. I mean, all those jonin, plus one retired kunoichi who made jonin level and they couldn't catch me and I'm not even a ninja. I'd sure hope no one's planning on invading the village anytime soon otherwise we may not survive."

Iruka groaned at this, clearly not happy. Though he did admire Naruto's spirit for testing the village security, that didn't mean he had the right to poke fun of it just because the ninjas chasing him couldn't catch him. Just because they couldn't catch him didn't mean to say that the village's security as a whole was pathetic. They hadn't been ANBU after all. If Naruto really wanted to test his metal, he would have provoked the ANBU, though he wasn't going to tell him that. The last thing anyone wanted to do was provoke the ANBU as they didn't take too kindly to being mocked and came down on their targets hard. Iruka knew that Naruto would probably have no chance fleeing from the ANBU and even if he did give them the slip, he knew that they would not give up until they had found Naruto and it would mean that Naruto would probably end up having to watch his back for a very long time, as the ANBU were quite dangerous whenever someone bruised their pride.

"Of course, those guys weren't ANBU," Naruto went on with a laugh, "Maybe jiji should assign better trained ninjas after me instead of those old relics."

"Why not provoke the ANBU into chasing you?" Ino asked curiously, causing Iruka's face to pale as the colour instantly drained from it as he feared that Ino may have signed Naruto death certificate.

"No way, those guys are brutal," Naruto said with a hint of genuine fear in his voice and a serious look in his eyes, "They're not ordinary shinobi. They don't give up until they have their man and it can be days afterwards. Just when you think you're save; bam, they spring out on you."

Iruka then let out a sigh of relief, glad that Naruto was smart enough to know not to mess with the ANBU.

"Really?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Uh huh, seriously," Naruto confirmed with a nod, "Kakashi-niisan was an ANBU once and he told me about it."

"Thanks heavens for Kakashi's secret training," Iruka thought; being one of the few that had known about how Kakashi had been training Naruto since the majority of the academy senseis had sought to sabotage his education, "Thank you Kakashi, you may have saved his life."

"Ano, sensei," Naruto asked, looking at Iruka with a pleading look in his eyes.

"I suppose you want another bowl," Iruka said with a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Nope," Naruto said shaking his head.

"Then what…?" Iruka started to ask as Naruto clasped his hands in front of him and bow his head.

"I-I-I was just wondering, could I please wear your hitai-ate, just this once, please," he pleaded.

"Oh this?" Iruka said as he slightly adjusted his hitai-ate and then shook his head, "No way, you can wear the Konoha hitai-ate until after you graduate and become a ninja, and you'll get your chance tomorrow. Is that why you took off your goggles?"

He then stared at a pair of green black-lensed goggles that were lying next to Naruto's empty ramen bowl.

"Humph, that is so not fair," he said in a huffy tone.

The three girls shook their heads, chuckling as Naruto appeared somewhat cute when he was in a huff.

"Who says that life is fair?" Iruka asked with a cheerful laugh.

"Aaargh… just get me another bowl," Naruto huffed, clearly not too pleased at Iruka's refusal to allow him to wear his hitai-ate.

"Calm down Naruto-kun, I'm sure you'll pass tomorrow," Hinata said in a cheerful tone.

* * *

The next day at the academy, it was the day of the Graduation Exam. The students all sat in anticipation, feeling rather excited about the idea of becoming ninja. It was truly a big day for everyone, especially Naruto. The last two times he had flunked on purpose as he had joined the academy earlier than most of his friends. The only exception was Shikamaru, but he had only failed in the past because he was too lazy to even attempt a simple henge. This time however, Naruto was going to pass for sure. He had been practising all night after all. For the graduation test, the students had to perform three basic jutsu; the Kawarimi no Jutsu, which was like a teleportation in which a ninja traded places with an object or thing, the Henge no Jutsu, which was the transformation jutsu they had been reviewing the previous day and the Bunshin no Jutsu, which was the ability to form clones.

"Okay, Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka said as he called Naruto into the testing room, where he noticed a man with silver white hair and dark brown eyes and wearing the standard Konoha Ninja Uniform standing behind a desk with a row of three by three hitai-ates.

However, Naruto wasn't put off. He knew who this was. It was Mizuki, the assistant proctor for the exam. It was common practice for the proctor to have an assistant in case he missed something. It was the job of the assistant to point out anything that the proctor had missed.

"So Naruto, this is your third try, huh?" Mizuki said with a smile, "You must really want to become a ninja if you're coming back for more."

"Uh huh, can we just get this over with Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto said rather excitedly.

"Boy, aren't we eager?" Mizuki said with a chuckle, though no one noticed the evil gleam in his eye as he stared at Naruto.

"Enough already, let's just get this over with," Iruka said in an unimpressed authoritative tone.

"Okay then, let's do this," Naruto said with a confident smirk.

* * *

Meanwhile outside the room, Hinata sat with her hitai-ate wrapped round her neck. Sakura hair her hitai-ate wrapped atop her head, replacing Ino's red ribbon that she had given her when they had first met. Ino had yet to be called. Hinata also had her Byakugan activated and could see through the wall as Naruto's test got underway.

"So Hinata-chan, how's he doing?" Ino asked curiously.

"Pretty well," she replied as she saw Naruto transform into Iruka and not that nude older female version of himself.

"So do you think he'll pass?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Of course he will; he's been training after all," Ino replied simply.

Hinata nodded as she saw Naruto use the Kawarimi no Jutsu and traded places with Mizuki and then use the same jutsu to move back to his original position. She noticed Iruka's eyebrow twitch as he gave an approving nod, clearly not expecting Naruto to use his assistant as an example of the Kawarimi. However, her Byakugan-activated eyes narrowed as she saw a rather evil smirk appear on Mizuki's face as Naruto prepared to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu.

"What's this?" she said aloud as she noticed Mizuki inch out of Iruka's field of vision and then he started performing a series of hand seals.

"Huh, Hinata-chan, what's going on?" Sakura asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"The hell!" Hinata exclaimed as she saw that whatever jutsu Mizuki had performed had caused a disruption in Naruto's chakra-flow, causing him to create only one bunshin, which looked more like an old crash dummy that had been tossed in the dumpster.

* * *

Back in the testing room, Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he noticed the pitiful excuse for a bunshin.

"What happened?" he thought in shock, "I was sure that I had it right."

Iruka's eyebrows twitched as he looked at Naruto's bunshin, believing that Naruto was just horsing about as usual and not taking the test seriously.

"YOU FAIL!" he shouted; his tolerance for Naruto's antics finally coming to an end, causing Naruto to slip and fall on his head.

"Iruka-sensei, perhaps you can cut him a break just this once and pass him," Mizuki said in what appeared to be a kind and pleading tone, "After all, he did perform two of the three jutsu correctly and he did hang in there."

This caused Naruto's face to light up with a hope in his eyes. He may not know what had happened that caused him to screw up on the Bunshin no Jutsu, but if Iruka gave him another shot, then he could graduate.

Unfortunately, Iruka just shook his head, clearly not affected by Mizuki's plea.

"I'm sorry Mizuki-sensei, but the other students all created three perfectly constructed bunshins and Naruto could only create one and look at it," he said as he gave the poor excuse of a clone a disgusted look, "It's pitiful. I wouldn't even call that a clone. Beside, rules state that a student must perform all three of those jutsu effective to pass, so if he can perform one properly, I can't pass him."

"Oh come on Iruka-sensei, I don't know what happened, but if you give me another chance, I can get it right," Naruto pleaded with a hopeful look in his eye, "I swear that I wasn't messing about this time."

"Come on Iruka-sensei, what do you say?" Mizuki asked in what appeared to be the same pleading tone as before as he secretly prepared to perform the same jutsu he had performed before, should Iruka decide to give Naruto another chance, "It is his third try, so you know he really wants to become a ninja."

For the plan to work, Naruto needed to fail and he knew through Naruto's improvements that the chances of him passing were very high and so, he decided to take matters into his own hands and make sure he failed.

"No; rules are rules," Iruka stated harshly in a strict tone, "If he wants, he can try again next year."

Naruto glared at Iruka as he clenched his fist to restrain himself from lashing out at him. Iruka always seemed to have it in for him. Sure, unlike most of the senseis, he didn't send him out the class for asking for help, nor did he take sides whenever one of the other children picked fights with him, but Iruka never showed any evidence that he had cared for him either and in Naruto's opinion, that made him just like the other villagers that hated him. Sure he would often take Naruto out for ramen, but Naruto felt that it had all been a ruse just to fool him into thinking that he didn't hate him and that angered him.

"Screw you asshole," he said as he turned and stormed out the room, much to Iruka's surprise and Mizuki's glee.

"Perfect," he thought with an evil smirk, "Everything's in place."

* * *

A little later as the sun was starting to set over the horizon, Naruto sat outside on the swing hanging from the tree not far from the academy as he watched the other students who graduated being congratulated by their parents as he wondered just what had gone wrong with his Bunshin no Jutsu and as he watched the other children and their parents, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to his parents; wishing that he had a family to call his own. He couldn't help but feel jealous of the other children; jealous how they had nice kind and loving families while he had no one. Sure he had his friends, but what he truly wanted was a family to call his own. His friends could only provide him with so much. What he wanted was someone to live with him so he wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

"Look, there he is," he heard a woman's voice say, causing him to look up and see two women glaring at him with nothing but disgust and contempt in their eyes.

"It's that boy, I heard he's the only one who didn't graduate," the other woman said in a quieter voice.

"Humph, serves him right," the first woman said in a disgusted tone, "I mean, could you imagine what would happen if they allowed that vermin to become a ninja… I mean considering what he is…"

"Quiet, we're not supposed to ever talk about that," the second woman said with a hint of fear in her tone.

"I could care less about that old coot's stupid decree," the first woman said in a tone of absolute contempt, "Someone should oust the old coot for giving support to that disgusting thing over there."

"Are you crazy?" the second woman said in shock as she placed her hand over her mouth in fright, "Talk like that would be considered treason."

"Well it's the truth," the first woman snorted, shooting Naruto a nasty glare.

Naruto just shot them both a rather nasty glare of his own. However, he then heard the sound of leaves rustling and looked up at the branch to find Mizuki standing on the branch.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiruzen stood with Iruka as he watched the happy children being congratulated by their parents and then he gave Iruka a stern look.

"Iruka, there's something we need to talk about," he said in a tone that let him know that he was in no mood for arguments.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hinata, Ino and Sakura, who had been waiting for the crowd to disperse before going over to comfort Naruto noticed Mizuki standing atop the branch and then after a brief conversation, both had made off somewhere.

"Come on," Hinata said as she started walking in the direction Naruto and Mizuki had made off in with the other two girls following suit.

Hinata had told them both about how she had seen Mizuki sabotage Naruto's test with the Bunshin no Jutsu and needless to say they were shocked. However, this left the question as to why? Why would Mizuki sabotage Naruto's test and just what was it that he wanted from Naruto anyway? Mizuki obviously planned on using him for something, but what?

"Hey, Hinata-chan, maybe we should tell someone," Ino suggested, clearly nervous about confronting Naruto in case Mizuki happened to hear them.

"Who can we tell?" Hinata asked in a serious tone as she looked around, "Mostly everyone hates Naruto-kun's guts. Do you honestly think they'll listen?"

"Good point," Ino said with a nod, realising that that much was true.

She knew that no one would care and since everyone knew that the three of them hung out with him, they probably would try to chase them off before they could tell them. However, the prospect of facing down a chunin, who would probably kill them if he discovered that they knew about his sabotage just because they saw too much was frightening. Tying her hitai-ate round her waist, she followed Hinata with Sakura beside her.

"This is for Naruto-kun," she thought to herself as a look of determination flooded her eyes, "I won't let fear get in my way."

* * *

Meanwhile, both Mizuki and Naruto were sitting on a balcony to the building where Naruto's home was with their legs dangling off the side.

"Don't feel bad Naruto," Mizuki said in a somewhat comforting tone, "Iruka's tough and I know you don't think so, but he's not against you."

"But why?" Naruto asked in a rather dejected tone, "Why always me?"

"He doesn't take sides," Mizuki started to explain, "Your letting your own feelings delude you into believing that he's out to make your life miserable. He wants you to be strong, but that won't happen if he's lenient with you."

Naruto didn't look all that convinced and Mizuki looked at him and shook his head.

"He's just like you, you know," Mizuki said simply with a look of what appeared to be sympathy on his face, "No parents, no family, he had to do everything by himself. You remind him a lot of himself when he was your age. Like you, he always acted the fool and got in trouble, so just give him a chance, okay?"

"But, this time, I wasn't fooling around," Naruto said with a depressed sigh, "This time, I was really trying to graduate. I was so sure I got that Bunshin no Jutsu right. I don't know where I went wrong. I just wish he'd give me another chance."

Mizuki then chuckled and turned to look at him.

"Then I guess I have no choice but to tell you," he said with an evil gleam in his eye; something that Naruto missed.

"Huh?" he said, looking at Mizuki curiously.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Mizuki went on, "I'm not supposed to tell you this but that's a shortcut for you to graduate."

"Really?" Naruto said excitedly as his face lit up in a hopeful smile.

"Hook, line and sinker," Mizuki thought as a sinister smirk etched its way onto his face.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto had scaled the walls of the Hokage Mansion and jumped in through an open window. This was the test that Mizuki had explained; the one in which he had said would graduate. The test was to steal a very special scroll from the Hokage Mansion and learn a jutsu from it and then Iruka would have no choice but to pass him. According to Mizuki; it was one of the most guarded secrets in the village and he explained that if everyone knew about it then the academy students would all be after the scroll, looking for an easy graduation.

"Naruto," a voice came from behind him as he tiptoed towards the room where Mizuki said the scrolls were kept, causing him to jump in fright, "Just what are you doing in my house at this time of night?"

Turning round, Naruto was shocked to see Sarutobi Hiruzen very much wide awake and staring at him with a mixture of confusion and annoyance as he stared at him demandingly awaiting an explanation.

"Damn it, busted," Naruto thought in a panic as he realised that his chances of graduating were about to go down the drain.

"Well, I'm waiting," Hiruzen said demandingly with a stern look on his face that told Naruto that he was in no mood for his usual horseplay, "Is this one of your pranks because if it is, I think it's already gone too far."

Thinking frantically, Naruto then remembered his Oiroke no Jutsu and how Hiruzen was a closet pervert. In fact, he had invented the Oiroke no Jutsu to "persuade" the old Hokage to let him off the hook so many times in the past whenever he got in trouble.

Forming the familiar hand seal, he started gathering his chakra.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" he yelled, again transforming in the older nude female version of himself and flashed the Sandaime a rather seductive wink and started walking towards him in a way that made it appear as if "she" was going to rub "her" body against his.

Needless to say, it had the desired effect as blood gushed from Hiruzen's nose and he involuntarily took a huge leap backwards, landing on his back.

"I swear; that get's easier every time," Naruto mused with a smirk as he cancelled the henge and made his way to the room where the scrolls were kept.

It didn't take him too long to find the scroll that Mizuki had told him about as he rummaged through the numerous scrolls on the shelves. It was quite huge; the height of a small child to be exact.

"Gotcha," he said with a rather excitable smirk, "Now once I learn a jutsu from you, Iruka-sensei's gonna have no choice but to pass me."

He then took the scroll and ran out of the room and made for the window he had come in through and then jumped through it.

* * *

Outside, on a nearby rooftop, the woman stood along with Mizuki as they both watched Naruto exit the Hokage mansion and then make his way towards the assigned meeting place where Mizuki had told Naruto to meet him where he said that he would test him.

"Wow, I can't believe he actually managed to pull it off," Mizuki commented looking off in the direction Naruto had gone off in with an impressed look on his face, "I never thought for a second that he'd manage to pull it off."

"Well, considering who his parents were, I'm not surprised," the woman stated; voice sounding as if it was the voice of a robot, "However, it just means that we can proceed with the next phase of the plan."

Mizuki then stood at attention.

"Right," he said in a serious tone, "What do you want me to do now?"

"Proceed with the next phase of the plan," the woman said simply, "First, inform Iruka-san of the theft and then take him to meet the Hokage, after which, you will locate the boy and kill him and then, as promised; the Fuin no Sho is all yours to do with as you please."

"Of course," Mizuki said with a nod, "Not only that, but by killing that insufferable brat, I will have avenged my parents' deaths as well."

The woman nodded with a smirk.

"Right, now go!" she stated simply in a serious voice and Mizuki then turned and jumped down to the street below.

The woman chuckled as she watched him go. This was it; this was what she had been waiting for twelve whole years since the Kyuubi's attack and the death of that insufferable Uzu-mesu. Now her legacy was going to be eliminated once and for all and she could finally be at peace. Of course, there was always the chance that something could go wrong. She did not trust Mizuki in the slightest, as it seemed he had his own agenda, but that didn't interest her. Both their agendas had given them a common goal for the moment. Mizuki wanted revenge for his parents as well as the Fuin no Sho for his own dastardly purposes; not that the woman cared. In truth, she could care less about the scroll. All she wanted was to be rid of the Uzu-mesu's legacy and that was that.

Mizuki was just an effective tool to reach that end, though she believed him to be nothing more than a pansy that would squeal in the Interrogation and Torture block of the ANBU headquarters before they even started torturing him. He looked like the sort of man who would squeal just at the sight of the various torture devices as well as Morino Ibiki's intimidating face; not that he'd give away her identity or anything if he did squeal. She had taken the precaution wear clothes that hid her appearance well as well as place a voice changer in her mouth underneath the black ANBU-like mask that she wore to conceal her face. She also wore a black cloak over her head that draped down over her entire body to hide her hair colour and other features. In fact, the mask and cloak concealed her so well and the voice changer had altered her voice to the point where her gender was indistinguishable that Mizuki undoubtably believed that she was a man as she kept her hands inside her cloak.

However, she already had a plan in place should Mizuki screw up. Sure, it would be Mizuki that killed Naruto if all went well and not her, but she was rather content with it as Mizuki would do it as part of her plan and that satisfied her greatly. Also, should anyone who didn't hate Naruto happen to witness it, Mizuki would get the blame and she'd get off with it, though it would mean having to lay low for quite some time afterwards as she knew Mizuki would sing like a canary.

"Now, to business," she mused evilly as she started to hop from rooftop to rooftop.

* * *

**Glossary**

Henge – Transform/Transformation

Bunshin – Clone

Fuin no Sho – Scroll of Seals

Kawarimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique

Oiroke no Jutsu – Sexy Technique (variation of the Henge no Jutsu)

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique

* * *

**Author's notes **– Another chapter done and final in canon territory. I have to say that this chapter has the most scenes in it so far and I even added in a flashback, something I haven't done since chapter six. I know that many of the scenes may seem like I got them from the anime, but I didn't copy the dialogue word for word and the bit at the beginning was different as I didn't want an anime/manga copy where Naruto just painted doodles on the Hokage faces. I will admit that the perverted graffiti was inspired by Psycho G's Neo Yondaime Hokage in which Naruto painted an advert for Jiraiya's Icha-Icha Paradise series before his team selection and I chose Fuhei to be Naruto's unfortunate subject as I wanted to include her more, plus Naruto had to gain some measure of revenge against her for not letting Sakura bring him into her house. If anyone feels that I've reverted Naruto back to his original self, then fear not, I haven't. As a ninja, he will be more serious and as for Mizuki managing to convince him, he just took advantage of Naruto's depression, since as I put it, Naruto intentionally failed the first two times and on the time he was planning to pass, he failed, albeit through Mizuki's secret chakra disruption jutsu and as for Kushina, I do have plans for her in future that involve her being alive. I just need a believable scenario to explain who she wasn't there for Naruto when he needed her. As for the manga, I haven't read the latest chapter yet, though according to the spoilers if I've read them properly, Karin decides to give up on Sasuke; something that Sakura can't bring herself to do and Naruto claims that he'll neither lose to Sasuke nor kill him and become a hero.


	11. Truth revealed, Mizuki's betrayal

Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage

**Chapter 11 – Truth revealed, Mizuki's betrayal**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

Umino Iruka lay on his bed in only his ninja jumpsuit staring up at ceiling with his hands clasped behind his head as he recalled the events of the day. Uzumaki Naruto had failed his third graduation attempt and despite both Naruto and his assistant's pleas to cut him a break, he had refused, deciding to abide by the rules. It wasn't that he had anything against Naruto or anything like the rest of the village. He would have given any other student the same treatment. It was just that he felt that if he was lenient with Naruto, it would make him seem that he was playing favourites and being unprofessional. He didn't want Naruto to grow up being spoiled because he was lenient on him because they shared similar experiences in their childhoods. Needless to say, he had no idea that Naruto would insult him and storm out the room and Iruka knew just by looking into his eyes that by refusing to allow him another chance, he had unwittingly hurt him.

It certainly earned him a talk with the Sandaime, who basically ordered him to retest Naruto, though the Sandaime wasn't demanding about it and was as polite as possible.

"_Iruka,_" the old Hokage's voice echoed in his mind.

"_Yes, Hokage-sama,_" he remembered saying as he replied, "_What is it that you want to talk about?_"

"_I know how you feel about Naruto,_" the Sandaime had said, "_You both did after grow up without a happy, loving family to care for you. You know what its like, don't you, not having the love of a mother or a father?_"

Iruka did know how that felt and remembered how being ignored with everyone going about their lives as if his parents didn't matter hurt him inside. It had torn him up and he remembered pulling pranks and getting into trouble, not caring what others thought of him. Being labelled a troublemaker and a nuisance was a lot better than being ignored completely Iruka know and that's exact what spurred Naruto.

However, Naruto did contain the beast that had slaughtered both his parents and he thought that perhaps that was a factor in his harsh treatment. Perhaps some small part of him still held him in contempt despite what he had seen eight years previously when he was planning on killing him. As much as Iruka wanted to deny it, he had to consider that possibility.

He remembered that horrible night his parents died. He had been on the battlefield with his parents as he was worried for their safety and had wandered out onto the battlefield looking for them, but he was spotted and he remembered a ninja grabbing him and then fled the battlefield with him in his arms.

"_Let me go!_" he remembered shouting to the ninja that had taken him away, only to be ignored, "_Kaa-san and tou-san are still fighting that thing!_"

He remembered looking up into the giant fox's blood-red eye, which was filled with malice and vengeful bloodlust and he wasn't so sure, but he believed that he saw three comma-like tomoe surrounding the pupil; much like the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan. Anyway, he remembered how badly it had scared him and felt that perhaps some small part of him refused to let go.

However, the sound of someone knocking on his door brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality. The Sandaime had told him to retest Naruto and he was in the process of thinking about it.

"Just who could that be?" he wondered, as the knocking didn't sound all that gentle and sounded rather urgent and Iruka immediately knew that something was wrong.

Getting up off his bed, he rushed over to the door and found a rather panicked Mizuki gasping for breath.

"Iruka-sensei, you must come to Hokage-sama's right away," he said in a somewhat panicked tone, "It's Naruto… I believe you may have angered him more than you realise. I'm afraid that he's stolen the most sacred scroll of Konohagakure."

"You mean the Fuin no Sho!" Iruka said with a mixture of alarm, shock and disbelief in his voice.

"I'm afraid so, though I don't know how he found out about it or how he found out where to find it," Mizuki said in what seemed like stunned curiosity.

"Huh, but why would he…?" Iruka thought in total disbelief; unable to believe that Naruto would do something so criminal, not to mention dangerous.

Surely Naruto couldn't be that furious over failing the Graduation Exam, could he and even if he was, just how on Earth did he find out about the Fuin no Sho and where to find it? This had to be a mistake. Something just didn't add up here. Only ninja with the rank of chunin and above were made privy to the Fuin no Sho's existence. So it seemed strange that Naruto, who was not even a genin managed to know about it.

As soon as he got ready, he and Mizuki both rushed in the direction of the Hokage Mansion. However, unbeknownst to Iruka, Mizuki had a rather evil smirk on his face.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a clearing in a nearby forest by an old abandoned hut, Naruto sat with the scroll as he rolled it out and started reading.

"Let's see," he said as he started reading, "The first one is Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly realised that it was an advanced variation of the Bunshin no Jutsu.

"Oh damn, bunshinjutsu; why does it have to be a bunshinjutsu?" he complained to himself as he slapped his own forehead, "I failed the Graduation Exam because of bunshinjutsu. Kami's mocking me."

* * *

Meanwhile at the Hokage Mansion, Mizuki and Iruka arrived to see a group of ninja standing before the Sandaime as he was giving them their briefing.

"This is not just a prank this time," one of the ninja said, "This is a serious offence."

"That scroll contains kinjutsu sealed away by the Shodai himself," another spoke up.

"If it manages to fall into the hands of our enemies, they could use it to destroy us," a third put in.

Hiruzen, who was dressed in his white and red robes and had the Hokage hat with the kanji symbol for fire at the front nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that would be unfortunate," he said with a sigh before his face became deadly serious, "Right, if that's the case; bring Naruto to me alive at once!"

"Hai!" the ninja all stated as Hiruzen held his arm out at his side as they all scattered.

* * *

Iruka landed on a rooftop as he frantically searched for Naruto with a growing sense of panic, unable to believe what was happening. Just how did Naruto find out about the Fuin no Sho and where to find it? It didn't make any sense. There was no way he could've found out about it. That was one of the village's most guarded secrets that didn't appear in the library or the history books. This just wasn't adding up. The only possible way Naruto could have discovered the scroll and its location was if someone who knew about it told him and he doubted that would happen. Many believed he was the human form of the Kyuubi no Yoko and so, the Fuin no Sho would be the last thing they'd want him to get his hands on or did Naruto somehow mange to find out on his own.

"This is absurd," he thought to himself, "How did he know and more importantly, where would he go?"

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" he suddenly heard a girl's voice call out, causing him to look to his left down on the streets where he saw Sakura, Ino and Hinata looking up at him with frantically panicked looks on their faces.

"Hey Iruka-sensei, have you seen Naruto?" Sakura called up to him in a concerned tone with worry in her eyes, "We've been searching for him all night and can't seem to find him."

"That makes all four of us," he thought as he decided to tell the girls what Naruto had done.

He jumped off the roof and landed in front of the three girls.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mizuki, had had adorned his hitai-ate, wearing it like a bandanna over the top of his head was racing towards the forest clearing where he had arranged to meet up with Naruto with an evil smirk on his face.

"Now that I've told everyone of what Naruto did, it's all over for him," he thought to himself in sadistic glee, "Once I acquire the Fuin no Sho, I'll eliminate him and do this village a favour, then, should I be discovered, I'll be hailed as a hero… of course, I'll keep the scroll for myself and sell it off to Iwa. Even if Naruto's caught before I can get to him, it won't matter, the Civilian Council will have the perfect excuse to finally do away with him and not even that old fool of a Hokage can't save him without being considered a traitor."

"No, that's not possible," he heard a voice, which he recognised as belonging to Hyuga Hinata say, "Naruto couldn't have done that… at least not on purpose."

"Yeah, Mizuki-sensei probably put him up to it," another voice, which Mizuki recognised as belonging to Haruno Sakura came and her comment caused him to stop in panic.

"Mizuki…?" he heard a third voice, which he recognised as Iruka's ask, "Where'd you three get that idea?"

"During Naruto's test, I had my Byakugan activated to see how he was doing and I noticed Mizuki-sensei perform head seals," he head Hinata explain, "It must've been some sort of chakra disruption jutsu because it caused a disturbance in Naruto-kun's chakra flow while performing the Bunshin no Jutsu and then, afterwards, we noticed Naruto leave with him."

To say Mizuki was scared would have been a massive understatement; he was downright terrified at what he had just heard. However, never considered the possibility that there'd be witnesses. Of course, he knew about Naruto's friendship with the three girls and four of the major clan heirs, but he never thought that would be a factor.

"Are you serious?" he heard Iruka ask.

"Yes, we are, we saw Naruto leave with Mizuki-sensei and went to try and find him," he heard a fourth voice that he immediately identified as belonging to Yamanaka Ino said.

"Right," he then heard Iruka say, "It may just be speculation, but we have to find him before Mizuki does. If what you say is true, then Naruto's in grave danger and Mizuki would be labelled a traitor."

This was bad and Mizuki found himself cursing his luck. How could he have overlooked Naruto's friendship with those three girls, especially Hinata? He knew about the Hyuga Clans Byakugan and how it could allow its users to see through solid matter. He should have known that Hinata would have been curious about Naruto's progress and now he found himself in a predicament. He knew that if word got round that he put Naruto up to it, he wouldn't get very far.

Of course, considering that it was Naruto, he doubted anyone would believe them since it was just speculation anyway. However, Mizuki knew that the Hokage would look into it, as would the rest of those that knew about the Fuin no Sho, since it was one of the village's most guarded secrets and then he'd be in serious trouble as he knew that the Hokage would find proof and make it public and if his connection to Iwa was discovered, he'd be a dead man since relations between Iwa and Konoha were murderously bitter and regardless of Naruto's involvement, he'd probably end up earning a spot next to Naruto in the gallows as many villagers would undoubtably delude themselves into believing that they were both in on it together and nothing infuriated Mizuki more than being next to Naruto; the son of his parents' murderer.

"Well then," he thought to himself with a sigh as an evil grin suddenly materialised on his face, "I'll just have to eliminate them all and who knows, I could get extra bonuses out of this."

He then continued to make his way towards the meeting point. He would kill all of them and then make his getaway and no one would be any the wiser.

"Naruto would probably get the blame anyway," he mused to himself dismissively, "Unfortunately I was too late to save them before I dealt with the demon, that'll make for a good cover story."

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto sat at the meeting place with his back against the wall of the wooden hut panting for breath. As he had just finished perfecting the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, an advanced forum of the Bunshin no Jutsu that created solid bunshins and not just illusions. The Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was the ability to create kage bunshins in great numbers, a dangerous jutsu as to solidify the bunshins, the user had to divide their chakra among the bunshins, which could prove deadly if the user created too many. However, since Naruto had such high chakra reverses, this weakness had been eliminated, though one could tell that he had been practicing.

"Gotcha," a voice came causing Naruto to look up and he saw Iruka along with Sakura, Ino and Hinata walking up to him.

Iruka stopped and looked down at him with his knees bent and his hands on his knees as he laughed, like he had just gotten a really funny joke.

"You didn't think you could actually get away with this, did you?" he went on as he noticed Naruto laugh as he scratched the head of his head.

"Looks like you got me," he said in a rather carefree tone as if he had no idea of the magnitude of what he had done, "I was hoping you'd take longer, I only had the change to master one jutsu."

"Huh?" Iruka said in confusion as he noticed Naruto's exhausted state.

"He's been training?" he thought questioningly, "I can tell how hard he's been working."

"Naruto-kun, what's with the oversized scroll you're carrying?" Ino asked curiously.

"Oh this?" Naruto said in a rather dismissive tone as if the scroll meant nothing before he turned to Iruka with a rather excited smile on his face, "Listen, I've got this really amazing jutsu I have to show you and then you'll let me graduate and everything will be okay, that's how it works, isn't it?"

"Huh, where'd you get that idea?" Iruka asked in shocked confusion and then he remembered the three girls and their accusations against Mizuki.

"Mizuki-sensei told me," Naruto said with a laugh, "He told me where to find the scroll and said that if I learned at least one jutsu from it, you'd have no choice but to pass me."

"Naruto-kun, Mizuki-sensei lied to you," Hinata spoke up in a rather sympathetic tone, "That scroll contains some of the village's most sacred secrets. Mizuki-sensei used a chakra disruption jutsu to sabotage your test. That was why you were only about to create one bunshin. I had my Byakugan activated outside while you were taking your test."

"Mizuki, could he really have..?" Iruka thought as he remembered the kind and caring look on Mizuki's face after he pleaded with him to give Naruto another chance.

He then heard the sound of someone landing on top of a tree branch and then noticed a barrage of kunai flying towards him. Immediately, he spun round and shoved Naruto out of the way and brought his arms up in front of his face as the kunai all flew into him, forcing him to fly into the wall of the hut. Luckily for him, the kunai hadn't hit any vital parts of his body and so his wounds weren't fatal, though he was pinned to the wall.

"I see you found our little hide-away," a sinister, yet familiar voice came; the tone causing the three girls to shudder in fear as they felt their skin crawl.

"Mizuki you traitorous bastard, I should have known," Iruka said glaring up at Mizuki, who was standing on top of a tree branch with what appeared to be two giant shuriken strapped to his back, looking down on the scene with a sinister look on his face and he turned towards Hinata.

"I have to admit Hyuga-"sama"," he said, adding the sama suffix in a sinisterly mocking tone, "I never would have guessed that you'd use your Byakugan and discover my little "contribution" to Naruto's test."

He then turned to face Naruto, his sinister grin never leaving his face.

"Naruto, give the scroll to me," he said in a sinisterly polite and demanding tone.

"Wait a minute," Naruto said in confusion as he looked between Iruka, who was struggling to free himself and Mizuki, "What's going on here, is this a joke?"

"I'm afraid not Naruto-kun," Sakura said in a serious tone, "Hinata was right, Mizuki's been using you."

"Naruto, whatever you do, don't give Mizuki the scroll," Iruka said in a serious tone, "That scroll contains dangerous kinjutsu. Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself so he can further his own power."

"Don't listen to him Naruto, he just wants the scroll for himself," Mizuki said simply with a sinister chuckle.

"Stop lying Mizuki," Iruka said as he managed to free his right shoulder.

"You're a liar and traitor Mizuki-sensei," Ino said sternly, "How could you? How could you do that to Naruto-kun? You sabotaged his graduation when this time he was planning on passing to be with the rest of us and then you use him to get that scroll for your own gain, how could you?"

In response, Mizuki started to chuckle, making no effort to deny the Yamanaka heiress's accusation and his chuckling soon erupted into full-blown insane laughter.

"Would you be so quick to defend him if you knew the truth about your precious Naruto-"kun"?" he shot back, adding the kun suffix with the same sinister mocking tone he had used while addressing Hinata earlier.

Needless to say, Ino was stunned.

"Huh, truth, you mean the reason why everyone hates him so much?" the Yamanaka heiress asked curiously.

"No Mizuki, don't!" Iruka shouted in alarm.

Mizuki chuckled, ignoring Iruka as Ino and Hinata both looked on in curiosity while Sakura clenched her fist as she knew what Mizuki was planning on doing.

As for Naruto, he just looked on in shocked confusion and disbelief. Mizuki had used him. He just couldn't get his head round that. Mizuki had seemed kind and caring, gentle and nice and even pleaded with Iruka to give him another chance. However, looking at Mizuki now; gone was the kindness, gentleness and caring tone Naruto remembered him regarding him with. Now the tone he had was evil, menacing and sinister and his expression had the look of someone who was clearly up to no good.

"Of course, none of the younger generation born afterwards or who were too young to remember would know about," Mizuki went on as he turned to face Naruto, "Even you, yourself don't know, do you Naruto; not since the Sandaime's decree twelve years ago."

"W-w-what are y-y-you talking a-about, what decree?" Naruto stuttered as he started to feel a sense of overwhelming fear build up inside him.

He knew that Mizuki was going to tell him the reason why he was so hated and yet, he found himself rather fearful of the answer and found himself wanting out. He wanted to find out the answer and he didn't at the same time. Part of him believed that he was better off being kept in the dark, that he'd rather not know as he was terrified of what it could mean for him. However, he knew that he had a right to know.

"You wouldn't know about it, that was the point," Mizuki said in a tone of sadistic glee as he enjoyed breaking Naruto's spirit, "Neither you nor the younger generation were supposed to know about it. Some children did persist in demanding an explanation from their parents, but their parents killed them for their persistence."

Sakura flinched at this, remembering when her mother had threatened her six years ago when she first befriended Naruto.

"No stop, it's forbidden!" Iruka said, after managing to pull all the kunai from his body and the wall.

"You think I care," Mizuki said with a laugh, regarding Iruka snidely, "When this is over, that old coot of a Hokage will be executed for his support of that thing down there, I'll make sure that happens and then I'll hand the scroll over to Iwa and avenge my parents."

"Iwa… yours parents…?" Iruka said in confusion before his eyes hardened with a furious glare, "This is treason of the worst kind; Iwa's our enemy."

Mizuki smirked before turning back to face Naruto.

"That's right, parents murdered their children and it's your fault for befriending them," Mizuki said to Naruto as he smirked at witnessing Naruto's eyes widen in shock, "They've all been sneaking around; not telling you anything. The decree is that no one is allowed to mention that the Kyuubi no Yoko that attacked the village twelve years ago is inside you."

"STOP IT!" Iruka screamed as he tried to lunge at Mizuki, but the pain where the kunai had made contact with his body brought him to his knees.

Ino and Hinata's eyes widened in shock.

"What?" Naruto said in shock, feeling rather terrified as he suddenly realised in the pit of his stomach that Mizuki was speaking the truth.

"Didn't you find it strange how they treated you?" Mizuki went on as his sadistic grin only widened, "They treated you like garbage; like the fact you were even alive was a crime against humanity. The beloved hero, the Yondaime Hokage fought the Kyuubi no Yoko and then sealed it inside you, sacrificing his own life to do so. The Kyuubi then proceeded to destroy the child's soul, assuming control of the body, which means, you are the Kyuubi no Yoko reincarnated as a human being. You're the one that killed Iruka's parents; and not only that, you also killed Sakura's father and Ino's uncle and who knows how many others. Heck your birthday's another clue. 10th October and you were born twelve years ago; the exact same day the Kyuubi attacked, did you honestly think that it was just a coincidence, how the beatings were more severe than normal whenever the anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack came round every year?"

Iruka groaned as he struggled to his feet as Sakura just glared up at Mizuki and Ino and Hinata both turned towards Naruto, staring at him in shock and disbelief, noting the frightened look of disbelief on his face.

"I guess you're not so eager to defend him now, are you Ino?" Mizuki said in a sadistically boastful tone with an insane happy look on his face, "He killed your Uncle Hiro and your father as well Sakura."

Ino and Hinata both turned to glare up at their former sensei with disgusted looks of contempt radiating within their eyes.

However, Naruto just stood in total shock as time seemed to stop for him as he thought back on how he was treated by the villagers. He remembered all the lynch mobs and their screams and accusations; calling him names like demon, hellspawn, monster and accusing him of killing people he never knew existed and how they screamed how his existence was a crime. Summing it all up and knowing that his birthday was on the same day as the anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack, plus the fact that he was twelve-years-old in which he was born on the exact same day the Kyuubi attacked, he knew that it was true.

"Even Iruka here hates your guts," Mizuki went on, even though Naruto was no longer listening, "The Kyuubi no Yoko killed his parents and since you're the Kyuubi, he despises you for it. Don't you understand yet? No one will accept you. No matter how strong you become or even if you became the Hokage, they'd all despise and fear you. You think becoming Hokage will give you acknowledgement, don't make me laugh. The only thing you'll earn from the people is their fear of you."

"Shut up, like I care if he's the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi!" Sakura stated, causing Mizuki to stare at her in shock.

"Jin… you know about… but how?" he said in utter disbelief.

"I looked it up in the library," Sakura explained while glaring at Mizuki, who was struggling to restrain his seething anger, "A Jinchuriki is a person with a Bijuu inside them and hidden shinobi villages tend to use them as trump-card weapons. They're not the Bijuu themselves."

Mizuki growled, but then calmed down and unstrapped one of the giant shuriken he had on his back.

"That's real touching, but in truth, I could care less whether Naruto was the Kyuubi or not, his father, the Yondaime murdered my parents and with him gone… well, I'll just go for the next best thing," Mizuki said as he started to spin the shuriken and directed his attention back at Naruto and then moved to throw the shuriken at him, "Die son of the Yondaime!"

He then threw the shuriken at Naruto, who was still frozen in shock; not having heard what Mizuki had said.

Naruto!" Iruka shouted as he managed to get to his feet and lunged at him, pushing him down to the ground as one of the shuriken points stabbed into his back.

"_You and Naruto are a lot alike,_" he remembered the Sandaime saying, "_The best you both could ever hope for is attention, even if it wasn't the kind you craved. Naruto's the same. Both of you were willing to accept the consequences of your actions, regardless of what they were; just so long as the attention was focused on you, it didn't matter. That's why Naruto gets in trouble and puts on a brave carefree face. He may not show it, but he's hurting inside, his heart's so fragile that even the slightest push could break it. No one will even look at him without looks of contempt and disgust. How would you feel if that was you; to be regarded with revulsion and disdain just for something you had no say in; to be attacked and beaten to near-death, to be afraid to fall asleep in case you may never wake up; to watch the sunset wondering if you'll be around to see the next sunrise? That's what Naruto has to deal with._"

Iruka had to admit that the Sandaime was right. He knew what Naruto was going through and yet he was different at the same time. Iruka never had to deal with lynch mobs out for his blood. He never had to worry himself to sleep fearing that he may not live to see tomorrow, but he knew that only added to Naruto's pain and that there was only so much that one could take before they lashed out. Naruto at the end of the day was still just a human being.

"Sensei," Naruto said after coming back to reality and looked around and knew that Iruka had just saved his life, "Why?"

"Because you and I are a lot alike," Iruka said with tears in his eyes as he cried; sobbing in sympathy, "Naruto, I know that you never had a mother or father; you were alone and it hurts inside. I was just like you. I lost my parents twelve years ago. I was upset. Everyone else just got on with their lives as if I didn't matter. It felt like they were regarding me as if I wasn't even there. So I did crazy and stupid things. I became the village fool; the class clown. I got in trouble and paid for what I did, but I didn't care. I just wanted them all to notice me."

Before Naruto could absorb this, Mizuki's laughter cut in.

"Oh that's rich Iruka," he boasted in a sick and twisted gleeful tone, "Don't listen to him Naruto, he always despised you for killing his parents. He'll say anything to get the scroll from you and to shut me up. I'll say it again. No one will ever accept you. If you became Hokage, they'll only pretend to accept you because they'll all be so damn afraid to oppose you."

Once those words hit his ears, Naruto's eyes widened. Unsure what to do, he grabbed the Fuin no Sho and held it close to him tightly and then fled.

"Naruto-kun!" the three girls all shouted.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted, raising a hand in the direction that he had run off in as he got to his feet.

Mizuki chuckled as he jumped down from the tree branch and smirked.

"You know what he's going to do, don't you?" he said sadistically, "You saw that look in his eyes. He's going to pour all his rage into the Fuin no Sho and acquire enough power to take revenge on the village. He really is just a monster."

"No," Iruka said, glaring at Mizuki as he removed the shuriken from his back, which didn't go in deep enough to cause fatal damage, "Naruto's not LIKE THAT!"

He then threw the shuriken at Mizuki, who easily sidestepped it and it flew into the forest, slicing off a tree branch as it vanished among the trees.

"Naruto-kun is no monster," Ino said, glaring at Mizuki in furious disgust, "I've seen him cry when my bitch of a mother interrupted our first official meeting. He stood up for us and never killed anyone."

"That's right," Hinata said, already having activated her Byakugan, "I don't care if he has the Kyuubi inside him. He never asked to have it sealed inside him."

"There is only one monster here and that's you," Sakura said with disgust evident in her eyes.

"You still defend him even knowing the truth?" Mizuki asked, though from the sound of his tone, it was clear he didn't care either way, "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Once I eliminate Naruto, I'll be back for the rest of you."

He then jumped onto a tree branch and started hoping from branch to branch in Naruto's direction.

"No," Iruka said as he struggled to walk, "I won't let you get away with this."

The three girls all then made off in the same direction, hoping to avoid Mizuki and catch up with Naruto before he did.

"Listen girls, I have a confession to make," Sakura said with a sigh, as both Ino and Hinata turned to look at her, "I discovered the truth four years ago after that incident with Sasuke-teme and Akito-sensei."

Both the other two girls' eyes widen as Sakura started to explain.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Hokage Mansion, Hiruzen was sitting in a room at a table with a crystal ball sitting on it. Hiruzen had his hand over the crystal ball as it showed Naruto fleeing with the Fuin no Sho. Needless to say, Hiruzen now knew the truth; that Mizuki had taken advantage of both Naruto reputation in the village and his desire to graduate and he also knew that Mizuki had blabbed about the Kyuubi to Naruto and within earshot of Sakura, Ino and Hinata.

"Curse that Mizuki," Hiruzen said furiously with a sigh, "He's probably gone and ruined everything for Naruto, making him feel bad on a level he's never experienced before. I fear that it may unleash the Kyuubi's power sealed away inside of him. If he continues to meddle with the scroll, it may shatter the seal that keeps the Kyuubi inside and release it to finish what it started twelve years ago and if that happens… I can only hope that Kami has us all in good favour."

* * *

Back in the forest, Sakura, Ino and Hinata had found Naruto hoping from tree branch to tree branch with the Fuin no Sho in his arms.

"Naruto-kun, don't listen to Mizuki!" Hinata called out, "We don't care if you have the Kyuubi inside you, you're not the Kyuubi itself!"

However, either Naruto didn't hear her or chose to ignore her as he didn't stop and kept hoping without registering that he had even acknowledged her call.

"Naruto-kun; slow down!" Ino called out, but ended up getting the same treatment as Hinata.

"Naruto!" a new voice that the three girls recognised as belonging to Iruka, causing them to turn their heads to see Iruka quickly rushing up behind him, "Naruto, give me the scroll, Mizuki's coming after you to take it away and then he's going to kill you, Naruto!"

At first, it appeared as if Naruto was going to ignore him as well, but then he suddenly turned round and jumped at Iruka, and viciously drove his knee into his stomach, surprising him and the three girls. Naruto then landed on the ground and sat huddled up against a tree as Iruka fell to the ground, rolling to a stop.

"What, it can't be," Iruka said in a shockingly infuriated tone filled with malice, "How, how did you know?"

Iruka then burst into smoke and in his place when the smoke cleared was Mizuki, causing the three girls to gasp in shock.

"A henge," Sakura whispered in fright.

"How did you know that it was me and not Iruka?" Mizuki asked in a demanding tone.

Naruto only responded with a surprising chuckle.

"That's easy Mizuki-sensei, how can you be Iruka…?" he said before bursting into a cloud of smoke, revealing Iruka, who was holding a log instead of the Fuin no Sho, "…When I am?"

"Both of them in a henge," Hinata thought in astonishment, "Iruka-sensei used Mizuki's own plan against him."

The real Naruto was hiding behind a nearby tree, clutching the Fuin no Sho to his chest. In truth he was feeling rather scared. He now knew why everyone hated him and despite the fact he had wanted to know for so long; he now wished that he was still in the dark. He had the Kyuubi no Yoko inside of him and the people were using him as a scapegoat to vent their anger over the loss of their loved ones by the Kyuubi's paws; they saw him as the Kyuubi incarnated as a human and he couldn't help but wonder if that was true; what if he was the Kyuubi and it had also lost its memories; what did that mean? Was his entire life just a lie? He didn't want to believe it, what if the Kyuubi had destroyed the soul of the child it was sealed into and now it believed itself to be that child… meaning that he was the Kyuubi.

"I see," he heard Mizuki say in response to Iruka's revelation that he had been chasing him and not Naruto, "So that's how it is, huh?"

Iruka chuckled from his position as Mizuki looked on in confusion.

"Just why do you defend that disgusting freak?" he asked in a demanding tone, "The Kyuubi killed your parents. Even if he isn't the Kyuubi, wouldn't you feel satisfied knowing that someone suffered for it? Naruto and I are a lot alike. He's going to use the scroll to further his own power just like I intend to do and take revenge on the village for his twelve years of mistreatment. That's how monsters are."

"You're right," Iruka said, much to the shock of the three girls and Naruto.

"I-i-it's true," Naruto thought, feeling absolutely devastated, "Iruka-sensei really does hate me. He never really believed in me. He thinks I'm some kind of demon."

"Iruka-sensei, how could you?" all three girls thought in unison, glaring furiously at their former academy sensei.

"That is how monsters are," Iruka went on, unaware of the girls' glares and Naruto became surprised, realising that Iruka wasn't finished talking, "But that's not who Naruto is. He's not the Kyuubi no Yoko; he's Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure no Sato and even though I may not show it, I have nothing but absolute respect for him. He's one of the best students I've ever had despite him constantly getting on my nerves. He works hard and puts everything into his work. Sure, he messes up sometimes, but he refuses to give up and always comes back for more and that makes him stronger. It's that that separates him from the Kyuubi no Yoko, so you're wrong."

"That's right," Sakura said as she, Ino and Hinata walked out, revealing themselves, "Naruto's not a monster. He's one of the kindest people I know. He saved me and Hinata both from Ami six years ago."

"Like I said before, when mom interrupted our first meeting, I saw him flee with tears in his eyes; I've seen him cry," Ino put in.

"And whenever he defended himself or one of us from villagers looking to kill us, he never killed them and let them escape," Hinata added in, "So you see, you're wrong about him. Monsters don't shed tears, they don't spare their opponents."

"Right," Ino went on, "The Kyuubi no Yoko killed Hiro-ojisan and Sakura's tou-san; not Naruto-kun himself. Having it sealed away within him doesn't make him the Kyuubi itself."

"Face it Mizuki-teme, the only monster here is you," Sakura added with a furious look on her face, "I discovered the truth four years ago since that instant with Akito-sensei; me along with Shino and Shikamaru and you know what else I discovered, well mainly just speculation really?"

"What?" Mizuki growled furiously; furious that Naruto was getting support and that he had been proven wrong.

"That Naruto-kun's possibly the son of the Yondaime himself," Sakura said, causing everyone else except Mizuki to gasp, "I mean I can't believe we all missed it; the resemblance between him and the Yondaime. It's so obvious; Naruto-kun's practically a miniature version of the Yondaime, but you already knew that, didn't you? I heard you earlier… something about killing Naruto-kun for being the Yondaime's son."

Mizuki growled as he shook his head.

"My father was from Iwa," he growled, gritting his teeth, "He was a spy posted here after the Third Great Shinobi War. His mission was to find anything that Iwa could use to take their revenge against the Yondaime, whom they solely blamed for their defeat. However, he met a local Konoha woman and they both fell in love. Kaa-san knew about his mission, but it didn't matter to her. He loved her and she loved him and they both settled down. Unfortunately, their happiness was cut short. Somehow, the Yondaime found out about my father's origins and one night, he and his friend, Haruno Takeshi broke into our home and slaughtered both my parents. My father had chosen to betray Iwa and not carry on with his mission and he was killed anyway and my mother was killed just for falling in love with him and she was seen as a traitor. I was there. I witnessed their deaths with my own two eyes."

He then furiously shook his head. He remembered that horrible night thirteen years ago, a year before the Kyuubi attacked. He had been in bed trying to sleep when he heard his parents arguing. He didn't know what was being said and curiosity had gotten the best of him and he went downstairs just in time to see the Yondaime and Takeshi murder his parents.

"_Kaa-san, tou-san!_" he remembered yelling before looking up at their murderers, "_No, it's not fair! Tou-san quit his mission; he was no longer spying for Iwa, why did you kill them?_"

However, he had received no answer, since both the Yondaime and Takeshi had been rather shocked at his presence. He then remembered charging at the Yondaime as anger suddenly took over, but Takeshi had knocked him back and he also remembered as he moved to get up, Takeshi had a sword aimed at his throat and he remembered seeing the former Haruno patriarch glaring down at him in what he believed to be a rather cold and uncaring look in his eyes.

"They were praised for it," Mizuki went on in seething fury, clearly not happy at digging up memories that he wanted to bury, "They were seen as heroes and me; I was made an orphan and since everyone knew whose son I was, I was shunned, bullied, ridiculed and beaten."

"Mizuki…" Iruka said in shock, feeling a pang of sympathy for his former friend.

Both Iruka and Mizuki had been friends since childhood. In fact, it had been Mizuki that helped Iruka deal with the loss of his parents, but he didn't know anything about Mizuki's parents. In fact, he didn't know that Mizuki had been a victim of the villagers' anger at all. This must've happened before they had met as it was only after the Kyuubi's attach that he remembered meeting Mizuki for the first time.

"It was only through the intervention of the Sandaime that they stopped," Mizuki went on furiously, "Though I could still see those contemptuous looks in their eyes. I was nothing more than the son of an Iwa spy and a villager traitor and it's all that spiky-blonde's father's fault; him and that diseased billboard-browed friend of his. Unfortunately for me, the Kyuubi beat me to the punch as I was planning on killing both the Yondaime and Haruno Takeshi when I got older. However, I was fortunate to learn that the Yondaime had a son. Of course, even if that fact was known to the village, they'd probably see him as illegitimate as the Yondaime never married."

"He probably did," Sakura commented furiously, "It was probably conducted in secret as the Yondaime had many enemies that could have targeted his wife in order to get to him."

Mizuki chuckled as he shot Sakura a rather evil smirk.

"You're probably right, but I doubt the villagers will see it that way," he said as he grabbed the second giant shuriken that was still strapped to his back, "In fact, if they did make the connection, it would probably disgrace the Yondaime and raise questions as to his motives concerning the Kyuubi's attack. In fact, I may just see to it that that does happen."

Naruto, who was still hiding was shedding tears of happiness after hearing Iruka and the three girls stand up for him.

"Thank you," he thought happily, not really caring much that he was the Yondaime's son for the moment.

"Well, I admire your courage girls," Mizuki said as he got ready to spin the shuriken, "I'd probably have been brought to tears if the circumstances were different, but in truth, I feel like vomiting. I was going to eliminate you all later, but I decided that Naruto can wait. I really can't afford witnesses and besides, I get a few extra bonuses out of this."

He then turned to leer dangerously at Sakura.

"I get to kill Takeshi's daughter for a more absolute revenge," he said before turning to look at Hinata with a ready greedy looking smirk on his face, "And I can get something extra from Kumo and this time Hinata-chan, daddy isn't here to save you."

Hinata flinched as she vaguely remembered that incident nine years ago in which a Kumo-nin tried to kidnap her and bring her to Kumo so they could get their hands on the Byakugan. It had been that incident that had caused Neji to become rather bitter towards her as his father had been killed in place of hers since Hiashi had killed the Kumo-nin and the leader of Kumogakure, the Yondaime Raikage, E had demanded Hiashi's life as compensation for their loss or Kumo would go to war with Konoha. However, what he didn't know was that Neji's father, Hizashi was Hiashi's identical twin brother and the Hyuga Council took advantage of that fact, killing Hizashi and having his body impersonate his brother's and thanks to the seal that all members of branch houses had, the Byakugan was sealed away since everyone knew that it was another of E's attempts to get a hold of the Byakugan.

After that, Neji had become rather bitter towards the Main Household and Hinata knew that he held her in contempt the most; like the whole thing was her fault. It was why he constantly talked down to her and verbally beat her and destroyed her confidence. Since he knew it would be suicide to attack her physically, he resorted to verbal bashing and sought to destroy her psychologically and the fact that she was becoming more and more confident and had learned to ignore him only served to infuriate him as he believed that everyone had a destiny and that fighting against it was pointless and the fact that Hinata was proving him wrong, though he'd never admit it was rather enraging to him and not only that; but he knew that Naruto was the main cause of this and Hinata knew that Neji had grown to despise Naruto just as much as he despised her, deluding himself into believing that Naruto was in league with the Main Household and the fact that none of the Hyuga Clan came forward to clear up the misunderstanding the villagers developed that he had the support of the Hyuga Clan when she first befriended him only served to ct as, what he believed as confirmation of his beliefs concerning Naruto.

"Don't worry though, if it makes you all feel better, I'll kill your precious sensei first," Mizuki said, bringing Hinata back to reality as he started spinning the shuriken and lunged at Iruka with the shuriken still in his hand.

"Girls, run!" Iruka shouted in urgency, "Get back to the village!"

"Too late, I'll just track them down and deal with them before they're even halfway back to the village," Mizuki said as he swung his arm forward.

However, before anyone knew what was happening, Naruto leap out from his hiding place and spun his leg round and brought his knee up, connecting it with Mizuki's face, sending him flying and causing him to release the shuriken, which; like the first one went into the forest. Mizuki landed on the ground on his front and picked himself up as he glared at Naruto.

"So glad you could join us you little punk," Mizuki said as the edges of his lips twisted into a sinister grin, "Now I can kill all of you."

"Naruto, what're you doing?" Iruka shouted out in alarm, "Take the three girls and run! You're no match for him!"

"Naruto-kun!" all three girls gasped in unison, both surprised and happy that he had come to their rescue.

However, Naruto just ignored them as he glared dangerously at Mizuki, placing the Fuin no Sho on the ground at a vertical angle.

"If you ever lay a hand on my sensei or my friends, I swear…" Naruto said in a dangerously low voice before his face twisted into a sinister grin; one that he usually displayed whenever he told a villager that they had already fallen for a prank before they became victim to it, "Well, I won't kill you, but I'll kick your ass… oh wait, I'm gonna do that anyway."

"Big words for a little brat," Mizuki boasted with a scoff, "Bring it; I could kill you in a single move if I wanted to."

"Big words for someone who believes I'm the all-powerful Kyuubi no Yoko reincarnated in human form," Naruto shot back as he formed a hand seal, "Are you sure you can back them up? Anyway, take your best shot Mizuki-teme. I'll just send it right back at you a thousand times worse."

"Whatever, all bark and no bite," Mizuki boasted smugly.

"Really," Naruto said in a sinisterly polite tone, "Let's test that theory, shall we? Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

To Mizuki's shock and absolute horror, there was a big puff of smoke all around him and when the smoke cleared, he was even more horrified to discover a lot of Narutos surrounding him, some on the ground and some standing on all the nearest tree branches to prevent Mizuki from making an escape.

"Wow," Iruka thought as he looked on in amazement, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu; that means that they're not just illusions; they're actual solid bunshins. Incredible. Not only has he mastered an incredibly advanced variation of the Bunshin no Jutsu, but he's able to perform its kinjutsu state without feeling the effects of its weaknesses."

The three girls all looked on in astonishment, unable to believe what the were seeing.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, that's an advanced jutsu that even experienced shinobi can have difficult with," Sakura said, at a loss for words.

"I guess having an all-powerful demon sealed away inside you does have its benefits," Ino commented.

"No, that's not the Kyuubi's chakra," Hinata said, having activated her Byakugan, "This is all Naruto-kun's own chakra. I think he may have naturally high chakra reverses even without the Kyuubi."

"Yeah, but I bet it's because of the Kyuubi that his own natural chakra is so high," Ino said as she looked at the group of Narutos, "After all, it needs to deal with the demon as well. Maybe all Jinchuriki are like that."

One of the Narutos nearest them turned as flashed a grin at them.

"Don't you worry girls," he said with a laugh, "I'm gonna deal with this traitor and then we can go home."

Mizuki on the other hand was sweating bullets a he frantically looked around for a way to escape as he knew that those Narutos were seriously intending on doing him major bodily harm as he heard them all goading him; daring him to attack. Falling on his butt, he looked dead at the real Naruto with fear in his eyes.

"Well then," one of the bunshins said, "If you're just gonna wait around, then I guess we're gonna make the first move."

"Get ready to scream for your mama," another bunshin said and then they all; along with the real Naruto moved in on Mizuki who, knowing what was about to come screamed with a stereotypical girl's scream.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!" he screamed as his fear and shock caused his bladder to relieve itself of its contents, causing him to wet himself.

After that all the Naruto bunshins and Naruto himself proceeded to punch and stomp on him as the three girls looked on in surprise and disgust; disgust that Mizuki was proving to be rather pathetic as they couldn't believe that this person had been one of their academy senseis since he was easily scared and screamed like a stereotyped girl and continued to scream the word "mommy" over and over again.

"And this guy was our sensei?" Ino thought in complete disbelief, "What a pansy."

"**Shannaro, you can do it Naruto-kun!**" Inner Sakura screamed, jumping up and down in excitement as outer Sakura looked on with a blank disgusted look, "**Kick him in his hairy balls!**"

Whether or not Naruto heard her or whether it was by sheer coincidence, some of the blows made contact with the area that Inner Sakura had directed him towards. After what felt like hours to Mizuki, the bunshins all stopped their assault, leaving a badly beaten and bruised Mizuki curled up in the fetal position, sucking his thumb like a baby. The sun had already started to rise, not that anyone cared or anything, they were all stunned and disgusted with Mizuki's pathetic display.

"He even pissed himself," Naruto said as all the kage bunshins exploded into smoke with the familiar popping sound.

"Way too much information, that's so gross," Sakura said, shaking her head as Naruto chuckled.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," he said before looking down as the thumb-sucking ninja and then laughed as he turned to face Iruka, "Sorry sensei, but I guess I got carried away."

Iruka just chuckled as he sat up in a better position.

"Come here Naruto, I have a surprise for you," he said as Naruto walked over to him with the three girls following in tow.

* * *

Meanwhile, all the ninja that the Sandaime had sent after Naruto all gathered back at the Hokage Mansion having no luck in finding him

"What do you mean you can't find him?" one of them asked furiously.

"Man, this is bad," another said with a fear of fear in his voice, "He could be miles away by now."

"Perhaps we should smoke him out or something," a third suggested, "Or get some dogs to sniff him out and tear him apart for being the demon he is."

"There's no longer any cause for alarm," the voice of Hiruzen came over their banter, "The scroll is safe, Naruto will be back soon."

Needless to say, many of the ninja were feeling rather infuriated at hearing this. That was another opportunity to do away with Naruto gone down the drain. Despite the Sandaime's orders to bring him back alive, the majority of ninja were planning on killing him and then make it look like an accident and then when the Sandaime had dropped his guard, they would take him out as well for his support of the "demon brat". Many of them had been under the payroll of members of the Civilian Council; spies that they had implanted in an attempt to seize control of the village's shinobi.

However, before they could ponder this further, a group of ANBU showed up behind Hiruzen who gave them all a stern look.

"Oh, by the way," he said in a sinisterly polite tone, "Don't think for one second that I was not aware of your little plan to kill Naruto and use my grief over his demise as a means to assassinate me."

The ninja were all at a loss for words as the colour basically drained from their faces.

"H-how did y-you know?" one of them spluttered.

"You underestimate me," Hiruzen said before the ANBU started making their way towards them, "I have ways of discovering what goes on behind my back; ways that I will not disclose to the likes of you."

The ninja all screamed, knowing that if they talked, it would be all over for the Civilian Council, so they did the only thing they could do; they lunged at the ANBU, drawing out their kunai and shuriken and the ANBU retaliated with their ninjato swords, killing them.

Hiruzen shook his head with a sigh, knowing that those ninja had intentionally provoked the ANBU into killing them in order to protect the Civilian Council. He knew that they were spies for the Civilian Council. It was a tactic that they had adopted long ago, using their own children… having them enrol in the Ninja Academy and become ninja, but who were secretly loyal to them. It was a bit like Danzo and his ROOT, only in Danzo's place were the members of the Civilian Council. Unfortunately, he just couldn't prove any of their misdeeds and he knew that he couldn't act unless he had proof, which the Civilian Council were very good at disposing of before it could come to his attention.

"I'm seriously getting too old for this," he thought with a sigh as he shook his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Naruto had his eyes closed as Iruka had told him to close them in order to give him his surprise.

"Hey Iruka-sensei, can I open my eyes yet?" he asked, feeling slightly frustrated, nervous and excited all at the same time.

"Sure, now you can open your eyes," Iruka said as Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

It took a while for his eyes to focus as the sun was visible behind the tree, beaming its light down on him, but when his eyes came into focus, he noticed Iruka smiling at him and what surprised him the most was that his sensei was not wearing his hitai-ate.

"Congratulations," he said in a playfully professional tone, "You graduate."

"Huh?" Naruto said in confusion before his face burst into a beaming smile.

"Well how do you like that?" Sakura said with a laugh, "Mizuki lied about graduating from learning a jutsu in that scroll, but his lie became truth. Naruto-kun did learn a jutsu from the scroll and he graduated."

"I'll say, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu's a jonin level jutsu," Ino said.

""Uh huh, by dividing his chakra, Naruto-kun was about to solidify his bunshins," Sakura explained seriously, "However, this is dangerous as creating them could leave you exhausted and you could die from chakra exhaustion. To be able to create so many without feeling tired or near-dead and not having even graduated from the academy; that's quite a feat Naruto-kun."

"Uh huh and you had no help from the Kyuubi," Hinata put in, "In most cases, some people struggle just to create one kage bunshin."

"So you three are okay with me having…" Naruto started to say with a hint of nervousness in his voice as he feared they would still leave him because of the Kyuubi.

"You're not the Kyuubi Naruto-kun," Ino said with sincerity in her voice, "Sakura-chan's known for four years and she didn't leave you, did she?"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and Sakura nodded with a sigh.

"Yeah, I've known since that incident with Akito four years ago," she admitted as she gave Naruto an apologetic look, "Me, Shino and Shikamaru know. However, that doesn't make you the Kyuubi itself. You're too kind and gentle to be a monster and besides, you're not alone."

"I'm not?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sakura shook her head.

"No, you are what is known as a Jinchuriki, a human sacrifice," Sakura explained with a sigh, "There are nine Bijuu, and a Jinchuriki is someone who has one of those Bijuu sealed inside them. Many villages use them as trump-card weapons due to the fact that they have more power than the regular ninja and many are treated the same way you are."

Naruto took a moment to absorb this and then looked at Sakura questioningly.

"But if they're used as weapons, why…?" he started to ask.

"Because the Kyuubi attacked the village beforehand," Sakura replied, interrupting him as she knew what he was going to ask, "The majority of people are too blinded by their grief and hate to see the potential benefits you could bring to the village, which in a way is probably good; otherwise you could have been raised to be a weapon and probably would've ended up losing your humanity. I don't see you as the Kyuubi and I don't see you as a weapon either. You're Uzumaki Naruto and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, she's right Naruto-kun, you still have us, no matter what," Hinata said with a smile.

Iruka looked on with a smile adorning his face; glad that Naruto had found acceptance, even if it was just from a small group; he knew from his own experiences that even just acceptance from one person was a lot better than no acceptance at all.

"Oh by the way, we're going out for ramen tonight to celebrate, my treat," he said.

"Really?" Naruto said as his face lit up in a rather excited smile.

"Yep," Iruka said with a nod.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto said as he jumped at Iruka and wrapped his arms round him.

Ouch, that hurts," Iruka said with a laugh as he winced in pain; still not having fully recovered from his tussle with Mizuki, who was still curled up sucking his thumb.

"What a baby," Sakura said in disgust as she shot him a nasty look.

"**Shannaro, you said it sister!**" Inner Sakura said in agreement.

* * *

A little later after Naruto and the three girls left, leaving Mizuki to be picked up by the ANBU, Mizuki was still sucking his thumb with curled up in the fetal position. However, he suddenly became aware of the toes of a sandaled foot that entered his field of vision; causing him to stop and look up.

"K-K-Kagetaka," he said as he studied the person; a figure wearing a pure black ANBU like hawk mask and a cloaked draped over their entire body and came over the top of their head.

"You failed Mizuki," Kagetaka said, speaking in an electronic voice, though Mizuki knew that it was because of a voice changer that Kagetaka had on underneath the mask, "And not only that, but you were seen by people who I would have rather have not gotten involved."

"I-i-i-it's not my fault," Mizuki protested with a hint of fear in his voice as he picked himself up, "I didn't know that Hyuga-san would use her Byakugan to spy on the Kyuubi brat."

"Well you should have," Kagetaka said, clearly infuriated at Mizuki's failure, "Now the ANBU are coming for you and you've jeopardised my plans."

"Well, I'm sorry," Mizuki said, with a hint of fury in his voice, "How was I supposed to know that those three would not abandon him and how was I supposed to know that he could pull of such an advanced jutsu; a kinjutsu even without feeling its effects?"

"You were ill-prepared," Kagetaka replied as they took their hands out from the cloak and Mizuki's eyes widened noticing how long and thin they were; just like a woman's.

"H-h-hold on, a-a-are you a…" Mizuki spluttered in absolute shock before trailing off.

"A woman?" Kagetaka finished simply, "Yes, I am, did you think I was a man?"

Mizuki flinched noticing that her voice sounded rather offended and insulted and he also couldn't help but notice the level of hateful malice laced in with it.

"I had a teammate who was a kunoichi and she only made it onto the team before they all believed she was a boy," Kagetaka explained, the hatred and malice not once leaving her voice and only became more evident as she brought a hand over her mask, "Uzumaki Kushina was her name, the brat's mother who took everything from me."

"U-U-Uzumaki K-K-K-Kushina, never heard of her," Mizuki replied, shaking his head.

"Of course you wouldn't have heard of her," Kagetaka replied with a growl, "After her marriage to Minato-teme, he saw to it that her existence was kept a secret; very much like the decree that forbids everyone from talking about their son, Minato made a decree that forbade anyone who knew about the Uzu-mesu from talking about her to protect her from his enemies."

She then removed her mask and used her other hand to pull the cloak of her head and her shadow silhouette displayed hair falling down to her waist as Mizuki's eyes widened in absolute shock and disbelief as he recognised the woman behind the mask and he just couldn't believe it.

"Y-y-y-you…?" he spluttered in absolute belief, "B-b-but it c-c-can't be."

"Oh, I can assure you that it is," Kagetaka replied in a sinister tone, "And unfortunately for you, now that you have seen my true face; I cannot let you live."

Before Mizuki could reply or even react, a kunai suddenly appeared to shoot right our of Kagetaka's cloak and lodge itself in Mizuki's throat. Mizuki's eyes widened in shock as he realised that Kagetaka had reached into her cloak and retrieved the kunai before throwing it, but it was so fast that he never saw her hand move and it appeared as if the kunai had shot out from the cloak of its own accord.

"B-b-b-bitch!" he hissed before dropping down dead like a stone.

Kagetaka then walked over to Mizuki's dead body and bent down and removed his hitai-ate. She then reached into her cloak and took out another hitai-ate; one with a different insignia carved into the metal plate. The insignia was of two boulders; a bigger one behind a smaller one; the insignia of Iwagakure no Sato. Pocketing Mizuki's Konoha hitai-ate, she then placed on the Iwa hitai-ate; a little souvenir from an opponent she had faced during the Third Great Shinobi War on Mizuki's head in the same manner he had worn his Konoha hitai-ate.

She then pulled the cloak over her head and placed her mask back on and fled, only narrowly avoiding being seen by the ANBU that had come to retrieve Mizuki.

Kagetaka was not her true name. It was just an alias the woman had devised to deceive those around her. She believed herself to be a hawk waiting in the shadows as she had observed events those past six years since she first tried pushing Naruto down the path of vengeance after noticing how he had killed someone, so she came up with the name, Kagetaka. However, even before that she had used her disguise, though she remained nameless. After all, she had met with Danzo to discuss how they'd dispose of Kushina… albeit for different reasons.

"Guess it's time to initialise plan B," she thought to herself, finally deciding to give up on trying to push Naruto down the road of revenge, "I'm sure Iwa will be very interested to know whose son he is."

That was her plan B, telling Iwa about Naruto and who his father was despite the fact that she had used Iwa as a scapegoat with Mizuki, which wasn't all that hard. Mizuki's father had been from Iwa and she had overheard everything he said to Iruka, Sakura, Ino and Hinata and how he was going to bring the Fuin no Sho to Iwa as revenge against Konoha for praising the death of his parents. It wouldn't be too hard to convince the ANBU that he had been in league with someone from Iwa with that hitai-ate she had left on him.

Anyway, with Naruto she saw two possible scenarios in Iwa knowing about his heritage. One involved them killing him and the other involved them convincing him to betray Konoha, which would label him an enemy-nin and traitor in which case, he'd end up dead anyway as she would see to it herself that he died.

"A win/win situation," she thought, sniggering evilly to herself, "Bet you never saw that coming Uzu-mesu. No matter what happens now, your son's destined to meet his end even if I have to step in and make sure he's dead myself. Finally, your stain on my life will be removed and I will be laughing last."

* * *

**Glossary**

Kumogakure – Hidden Cloud

Kumo – Cloud

Raikage – Lightning Shadow (Leader of Kumo)

Kumo-nin – Cloud Ninja

Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone

Tomoe – An abstract shape in Japanese culture i.e. swirl that resembles a comma, the Sharingan's tomoe represent its strength and each eye can have a maximum of three tomoe that surrounds the pupil.

Kinjutsu – Forbidden Techniques (Techniques that aren't allowed to be used either because it causes harm to the user themselves or because they defy the laws of nature i.e. resurrection jutsu)

Bunshinjutsu – Clone Techniques

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique

Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Kagetaka – Shadow Hawk (the woman's alias)

Tou-san – Father (the san suffix is meant as a sign of respect)

Kaa-san – Mother (the san suffix is meant as a sign of respect)

Oji-san – Uncle (the san suffix is meant as a sign of respect)

* * *

**Authors notes **– Another chapter done. I have to say I probably would have had this out earlier, but the computer was experiencing problems and I wasted all of yesterday trying to fix it, which I did (thank goodness). Anyway, I realise that in the anime Mizuki was in league with Orochimaru, but that was just a filler arch and I don't count those as canon, so I decided on Mizuki having a back-story and an alternative on wanting Naruto… and by extension, Sakura dead and the whole bit with his beating was just to add an element of humour. As for how Mizuki knew about Naruto's heritage, I'll reveal that eventually, but until then, have a guess. As for giving the woman a name (or at least an alias to address her by), I didn't just want to d her scenes just by calling her "the woman" and as for a name, I had a few ideas, but I didn't think those would fit and I finally came up with the name, Kagetaka as she has watched events like a hawk from the shadows. I'll admit, I'm not the best writer in the world, but I do my best. I've read the latest manga chapter and Sakura surprised me as she stood up for Naruto against Sasuke… something that I never thought would happen as in the past, Sakura would always side with Sasuke and beat Naruto down for "insulting" her precious Sasuke. I know that Sakura does care about Naruto (maybe not to the point of being in love, but enough to worry about him), but I always assumed that her love for Sasuke would override any care she had for Naruto. On a side note, I', going down to Calais, France this Wednesday, though I'll be leaving on the Tuesday and won't be back till the Thursday, so don't expect an update anytime soon. It'll probably be this time next week, perhaps a bit earlier before I can update (provided I don't get writer's block that puts me into another hiatus).


	12. The Sandaime's grandson, Sarutobi Konoha

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 12 – The Sandaime's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Konohagakure no Sato with the birds twittering and the sun shining down on the village, bathing its buildings in it golden splendour. There was not a single cloud in the sky and a soft breeze blew in the air, causing the branches on the trees to sway gently to and fro. The breeze also helped cool the air down somewhat from the sun's scorching heat.

However, none of that really mattered to one, Uzumaki Naruto, who had officially graduated from the Ninja Academy two days ago after helping subdue Mizuki and demonstrating an advanced bunshinjutsu that would have even jonins struggling to accomplish. Iruka had passed him anyway despite the fact that it was not an official graduation test since Mizuki had sabotaged Naruto's graduation test and he displayed an advanced variation of the jutsu Mizuki had caused him to mess up on. Anyway, Naruto was sitting on the roof of the Hokage's main building where his office was situated as he was getting his picture taken for his official Ninja ID.

Unfortunately, the photographer just shot him a puzzled look like he was crazy as Naruto was sitting on the chair with a look that no one would expect one to have for an ID photo.

"Listen kid, are you really positive that you want me to take your picture looking like that?" he asked Naruto with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I mean, you look absolutely stupid."

"Just take the damn picture," Naruto said in a demanding tone, "Come on, come, we both know that we don't have all day."

The photographer, an old balding man wearing glasses just groaned in frustration.

"Okay kid, if that's how you want it fine," he said as he got behind the camera and pulled the cover at the end over his head, "You'll be back to redo it, you'll see and don't blame me for it. Okay, say cheese."

The camera then clicked and took Naruto's picture and Naruto himself had a rather humorously angry expression on his face with the skin of his face pure white and red paint decorating his face; much like the face-paints of a kabuki performer and he had his hand held out in front of him showing red swirls on his palm and fingers.

* * *

Later, Naruto was sitting in a room in the Ninja Academy in front of Hiruzen and a man he did not know; the man in charge of putting together the Ninja IDs. Hiruzen just groaned as he looked over Naruto's photograph that had been placed on his Ninja ID profile, clearly not impressed with his shenanigans.

"Well, at first, I didn't know what I was going to do," Naruto explained in a rather dismissive tone, "It took me like three hours to come up with that, but finally, I got it; Kabuki performer on a bad day. It's not something anyone else would do."

"Take it again," Hiruzen replied in a somewhat demanding tone.

"What?" Naruto said in disbelief, "No way."

"Naruto, I'm afraid that we can't accept this photo."

Naruto just growled in frustration and he and Hiruzen suddenly engaged in a staring contest to see who would move first.

"Yeah, well screw you jiji, I ain't doin' it again," he said as he formed a hand seal, "Henge!"

He then burst into a cloud of smoke that revealed his older female version of himself in the nude like before and giving him a rather seductive stare.

"Pretty please Hokage-sama," the female Naruto said in a girl's voice.

Looking at the female Naruto and noticing "her" lack of clothes caused him to stiffen as he tried to resist the urge to give in to his perverted nature, but unfortunately blood gushed out of his nose, causing him to fall backwards while still in his chair and he landed on the floor with his mouth open wide and his bottom lip twitched.

* * *

Outside the room, a small child snuck up to the door as he listened to the conversation inside the room through a gap in the door.

* * *

"I really wish you wouldn't do that accursed Oiroke no Jutsu in my presence," Hiruzen, who had fully recovered and was back in his seat, wiping the blood from his nose with a tissue, "I'm getting too old for that sort of thing. Are you trying to kill me? Anyway, where's your hitai-ate, as a ninja of the village, you're supposed to be wearing it."

Naruto just chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I really don't want to damage it before the orientation ceremony tomorrow and besides, I may have to hand it back if I fail the real test to see whether or not I become a ninja," Naruto said simply with a wave of his head.

"Hold on a second, just how did you know about the real test?" Hiruzen said in astonishment, unable to believe that Naruto knew that much.

The Graduation Exam at the academy was meant to see just how many people had the potential to become ninja. After that, the graduates were split into teams of three and were assigned a jonin sensei who would administer a test to see whether or not they were ready to become ninja. The pass and fail rate varied from year to year depending on how many students actually graduated. With twenty-seven students this year, Hiruzen figured that only a third of them would pass the real test and go on to become true ninja.

Of course, it was a system that not everyone was happy with. Those that failed normally ended up going back to the academy and many of those who failed felt rather cheated and either quit or in some cases, leave the village altogether and train on their own, but since they were not officially ninja, they couldn't be labelled as nuke-nin. Hiruzen remembered the village dealing with that in the past when jonins were targeted by former students seeking revenge for being "cheated" out of their graduation.

It wasn't always like that though. The Ninja Academy training used to be a lot tougher and harsher, but many of the students… mainly those with civilian parents complained about it and some of them happened to be the sons and daughters of members of the Civilian Council and they complained to the Hokage and Hiruzen remembered how they made his life hellish until he bowed to pressure and lessened the intensity of the academy training just to shut them up. However, at first, they didn't have the real test; it was just graduate and you were a ninja, but many of the newly graduated genin ended up dying or being severely traumatised on their first major missions and then Hiruzen realised that many of them weren't ready for ninja life and came up with the real test as a means to see who were truly ready to become full-fledged shinobi and who needed more training and in many cases, the majority of graduates only saw being ninja as being just a game where they fought bad guys and that was that.

"Well, Kakashi-niisan trained me since that incident six years ago," Naruto explained, bringing Hiruzen back to reality, "You assigned him a genin three-man team every year and I watched him perform that bell test with them, though none of his team members passed. He actually has a tree in his back yard that he marks with a kunai each time he fails a team."

Hiruzen nodded, knowing that each team Kakashi had been assigned all failed. It was up to the jonin senseis themselves how to test the students and what standards to set for them. Kakashi unfortunately had higher standards than most and all the teams he had been assigned to in the past failed to meet those standards and usually ended up fighting amongst themselves so much so that Kakashi had on more than one occasion recommended that they be dropped from the program permanently.

Hiruzen was amazed that Naruto had been observing him over the years; not that graduates weren't meant to know about the real test. Some of the graduates whose parents were ninja told them about it. However, it did present a problem.

"Note to self, don't assign Naruto with Kakashi," Hiruzen thought with a nod.

After all, he didn't want Naruto's team having an unfair advantage as since Naruto had witnessed Kakashi administer those tests in the past and knew what his standards were, he could easily tell his teammates and their knowledge of this beforehand may lead to an inaccurate assessment; meaning Kakashi may end up passing them when they weren't really ready to be ninja at all and only passed because of the knowledge they had acquired beforehand.

Hiruzen then cleared his throat.

"Yes, well anyway, back on topic, you want your hitai-ate looking spotless," he said serious, "And yet, your photo; which is supposed to identify you makes you look like a complete and utter fool. It's for ninja missions and training, which is the key to your future and I can honestly say that by looking at this monstrosity that if I had never met you before, I wouldn't know that it's you."

"Well that's the whole point," Naruto said dismissively, "I think it makes it look cool and as for all that complicated crap; I really don't give a rat's ass. Until I'm a full-fledged ninja, I do things one way; my way."

Hiruzen sighed as he shook his head.

However, before he could reply to Naruto's rebellious statement, the door opened, diverting his attention as a boy no older than eight-years-old came running in wielding a single shuriken.

"Prepare to die old man!" the boy said as he ran across the room, "I'm going to kill you and become the Godaime Hokage."

"Great, my bothersome grandson," Hiruzen thought as he felt a headache coming on, "If it's not one thing, it's another."

However, the boy stood on the dark greenish blue scarf he had on round his neck and stumbled to the ground as a man appeared at the door with a look of pure worry on his face as it looked like he had been running.

"Oh my, omago-sama, are you alright?" the man said in an equally worried tone.

"Ouch, something tripped me," the boy said with his hands pushed against his head.

"That's quite impossible omago-sama since, as you can see, the floor is completely flat and so there's nothing for you to trip on," the man at the door explained, but the boy ignored him as he looked around looking for anything that could have possibly caused him to fall.

"Who's this idiot?" Naruto thought as he studied the boy.

The boy had dark brown eyes with a tuff of brown hair sticking out of the top of the helmet he was wearing; a light greyish brown helmet with a yellow circle above his left eye and a dark orange circle at the right side with a mean looking face drawn in it. Aside from that and the scarf that trailed to the floor from his neck; the one he had tripped on, he wore a yellow t-shirt with the village insignia displayed in red at the front, grey trousers and blue sandals. Naruto also noticed that he had a tooth missing near the left side of his mouth.

He then noticed Naruto, who was still sitting in the chair, looking at him with a rather dumbfounded look on his face.

"It was you, wasn't it?" the boy said, pointing a finger of accusation at Naruto, "You tripped me."

The man at the door gasped as soon as he noticed Naruto.

"It's that lowlife vermin," he thought as he shot Naruto a look of pure disgusted contempt, "The Kyuubi's human form. Of course, he's an evil plotter of the worst kind."

The man was dressed in the usual ninja uniform minus the green vest and had his hitai-ate worn like a bandana and he also had a pair of rounded sunglasses over his eyes.

Naruto glared at the eight-year-old, infuriated that he had thought that he had accused him when it was plainly obvious that he had tripped over his own scarf.

"How dare you, you tripped on your own scarf stupid!" he growled as he grabbed the boy and hoisted him into the air and got ready to punch him.

The man at the door screamed in panic.

"Unhand him you disgusting vermin!" he shouted demandingly at Naruto as he freaked, "You can't hurt him! He's the honourable grandson of the honourable Sandaime Hokage!"

Naruto then looked over at him to see him gesturing towards the Sandaime.

"And just what are you supposed to be?" he asked the man in an unimpressed tone as he studied his clothes, "Some sort of blind nutcase or something?"

The man glared furiously at Naruto as Naruto turned back to the boy he was holding who had a rather arrogant smirk on his face; the same kind of smirk he had seen on Sasuke's face many times in the past whenever he boasted about his clan.

"Ha, that stopped him, just like all the rest," he thought, though he was a bit troubled at this, "He won't dare lay a finger on me now that he knows that the Sandaime's my grandfather."

"What's the matter?" he boasted, causing Naruto to glare at him, "You're not so tough, are ya? Too afraid to hit me because my grandfather's the Sandaime?2

"Like I give a shit!" Naruto lashed out as he punched the boy over the head, causing the man, who had come into the room to freak out again, "I'd give the Fire Daimyo himself the same treatment if he were here."

"Wow, there's something different about this guy," the boy thought as Naruto released him and then he fell to the floor.

* * *

Later, the boy, Konohamaru, who was Hiruzen's grandson was standing before the man that had followed him, Ebisu, who Hiruzen had assigned as Konohamaru's personal trainer as he gave him a lecture. Needless to say, Konohamaru just folded his arms, not really paying attention as he found Ebisu's lectures boring.

"Now see here omago-sama," Ebisu said in a sternly strict tone, "As the honourable grandson of Sandaime-sama here, you can't let yourself be drawn into fights by disgusting lowlife like that Naruto character, the disease of our village. You mustn't indulge him by stooping to his level. I'm your elite ninja trainer and I am never wrong. I'm far above everyone else so you must heed my every word. You want to be the next Hokage, don't you? Well I can teach you the best shortcuts you need to get there and make it to the top, but you must always stick close to me, right omago-sama?"

During his lecture, Ebisu had gotten so wrapped up in his own lecture that he had turned away from Konohamaru and Konohamaru had just followed Naruto out the door, not really caring much for his "sensei's" lecture as he believed that Ebisu just liked hearing himself speak. When Ebisu turned back to face him, he was gone.

"Omago-sama?" he said with a hint of worry in his voice before groaning in frustration, "Now where did he run of to now?"

"I believe he followed Naruto," Hiruzen, who was still in the room said with his elbows resting on the table and his hands clasped in front of him.

"Followed… Naruto…?" Ebisu said as the colour almost immediately drained from his face before he screamed once again as he freaked out, "Oh no, that's a disaster waiting to happen!"

He then rushed out the room and down the corridor in a mad panic.

"OMAGO-SAMA!" he shouted loudly in his fright, "FEAR NOT, FOR I, EBISU WILL SAVE YOU FROM THAT HEATHAN IN HUMAN CLOTHING!"

Hiruzen just sighed, shaking his head.

"Why on Earth did I assign such a twit as Konohamaru's trainer and how did he grow up to be like that?" he thought as he felt another headache coming on, "He's quite determined, I'll give him that much. That was his twentieth sneak-attack today and if he ends up befriending Naruto, he's bound to get a whole lot worse, though I doubt Naruto would teach him anything really bad, would he?"

He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over him as he pictured possible scenarios in which his grandson could possibly incorporate in future thanks to hanging out with Naruto. He felt as if the room temperature had just dropped to near-freezing as he just pictured his grandson using Naruto's Oiroke no Jutsu on him.

"Maybe Naruto would be a bad influence on him," he thought with dread, "Oh well, it could be worse. At least he's not with that perverted former student of mine, Jiraiya otherwise he'd be countless times worse."

* * *

Meanwhile, Konohamaru was following Naruto, who was currently walking down the streets on his way home after he had grudgingly agreed to redo his Ninja ID photo as compensation for hitting the Sandaime's grandson; though he only agreed to it to shut that idiot of a trainer of his to shut up and calm down. Needless to say, he was not in a good mood and he knew that he was being followed. Konohamaru was not really all that stealthy. When Naruto turned round, Konohamaru covered himself with a cloak; performing the Kakuremino no Jutsu to blend in with the ground. Unfortunately, he only crouched instead of lying on the ground and his feet were still visible. Naruto just ignored it and continued to walk on, quickening his pace and Konohamaru followed suit, also quickening his pace.

Naruto let out a groan, clearly frustrated that the annoying kid's persistence.

"You might as well just stop there, I know you're there," he said as he came to a complete stop and Konohamaru used the cloak and pressed his back against the fence.

This time, the pattern of the fence was wrong; the lines separating the planks of wood were horizontal instead of vertical and his fingers were still visible at the top where he held up the cloak. Naruto just gave an unimpressed groan.

"That's so damn obvious, you'd have to be completely clueless about life itself to miss it," he said when Konohamaru did not move, "You skills in the Kakuremino no Jutsu are pathetic and that's an E-rank jutsu that even a toddler could perform in their sleep if they were taught correctly."

Konohamaru then laughed, though his laughter was muffled by the cloak and then he pulled it down and smiled at Naruto.

"Great, you saw through me disguise," he said, looking at Naruto in admiration, "The rumours about you are true, you're good."

"Rumours?" Naruto asked curiously, wondering just what sort of rumours the boy was talking about.

"Okay, here's how it's gonna go," Konohamaru said in a somewhat demanding tone, ignoring Naruto as he pointed a finger at him, "You're gonna be my trainer and I'm gonna be your apprentice."

"Sorry kid, I'm not qualified to be a trainer," Naruto said, shaking his head, "Only chunin level ninja and above can qualify and even though I graduated from the academy, I'm not even an official genin yet, unless I pass the real test that my assigned jonin instructor gives me, so I can't help you. Besides, don't you have that annoying blind guy to train you?"

"What, him?" Konohamaru scoffed dismissively with a hint of frustration in his voice, "He just likes hearing the sound of his own voice. I need a new trainer and you're it. You must teach me that Oiroke no Jutsu you used on Hokage-jiisan."

Naruto just looked at him as his tone became more demanding and his voice became louder with his fists moving up and down in front of him. He looked pretty much like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum.

"Please taicho?" Konohamaru asked as he clasped his hands in front of him and looked up at Naruto with puppy-dog like eyes.

"Huh, taicho?" Naruto said, looking confused.

"Yeah, you're the taicho; taicho, taicho, TAICHO!"

Naruto groaned in frustration, knowing that this annoying brat wasn't going to leave him alone until he agreed.

"Very well, you win," he said, slapping his forehead as he wondered just what on Earth he had gotten himself into.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ebisu stood above the Yondaime's head of the Hokage Monument with his hand above his eyes as he looked around the village down below trying to think of where Naruto could have gone with Konohamaru. Like most of the villagers, Ebisu held Naruto in contempt for harbouring the Kyuubi no Yoko inside him. However, his hatred was not due to losing a loved one at the paws of the Kyuubi. He just hated Naruto because the rest of the villagers did and because of Naruto's reputation as the village's number one prankster; a title once held by a girl who as he saw it, coincidentally had the surname, Uzumaki; a foreigner from Uzu no Kuni known as Uzumaki Kushina.

Of course, Ebisu was too into his own hatred to make the connection, though he had come to view the name, Uzumaki as a curse on the village and it didn't help matters that Naruto contained the Kyuubi inside him.

"Where did that evil monstrosity go off to?" he thought in seething fury, "And what's he done with omago-sama? What dastardly evil scheme is he concocting in that evil brain of his? I am a jonin; an elite ninja. I am a trainer of future Hokage; therefore I am above all the other trainers. Anyway who even thinks of doing anything with any of my students will be crushed."

He then jumped back up to the observation platform above the monument and left with every intention of killing Naruto when he found him.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a clearing in a forest, Konohamaru had just displayed his attempt at the Oiroke no Jutsu. Unfortunately, the "woman" he transformed into was rather fat with big lips, beady little eyes and "her" face looked so swallow, one would have easily mistakenly believed that someone had repeated slammed "her" face with a battering ram. Naruto was thankfully that "she" was wearing underwear. He shuddered to think of what would happen if "she" had been naked. It definitely would have been pretty off-putting.

"I'd probably have nightmares for the rest of my life," he thought with a cringe.

"No, no, no!" he said aloud, "Make her taller and skinnier!"

The fat "woman" burst into smoke as Konohamaru cancelled the henge and he gave Naruto a nod.

"Right taicho, got it," he said as he formed the familiar hand seal, "Henge!"

This time, the female version of Konohamaru was taller and skinnier; about seven-feet tall with a body of a stickman drawing.

"No, too tall and too skinny!" Naruto said in alarm, "That's even worse; try again."

"Boy this kid's chakra control is pathetic," he thought, shaking his head, "Maybe even more so than mine was when I first started attending the academy and it took me forever to perfect the Henge no Jutsu and even my first henge wasn't that bad. If it wasn't for Kakashi-niisan, I wonder if I would have graduated at all… yeah, probably by sheer dumb luck."

He remembered Kakashi's lecture on chakra control and how even experienced ninja could run into difficulty with it. He remembered how Kakashi said that chakra control was essential in performing jutsu and how one needed to utilise the right amount of chakra to perform a jutsu properly. Those who didn't know about this and performed jutsu effectively were simply just guessing the amount needed and hoping that it would come out right and were only able to perform the just properly because they had become accustomed to the amount of chakra they used to pull it off. Using too little chakra meant that the jutsu would not work at all or it would work, only it would be weaker; like a Katon jutsu would probably only shot out a small flame and using too much chakra could cause the jutsu to backfire, causing the user serious harm or in Konohamaru's case, the jutsu was nothing more than a joke. Naruto knew that Konohamaru was putting too much chakra into his henge.

He had similar problems with the Bunshin no Jutsu. In the beginning he could only create one bunshin and it looked absolutely pathetic; like a rejected crash dummy thrown in the trash or like a sickly dead zombie and even with Kakashi's chakra control exercises, it had taken him more than a year to perform the jutsu properly and create more than one perfect bunshin, though, even now he knew he still had trouble with it. To perform the Bunshin no Jutsu properly, Naruto had to really concentrate hard and even the slightest disturbance or loss of concentration could cause him to mess up. That was why it had been so easy Mizuki to use that chakra disruption jutsu to sabotage his test and ensure that he failed. To properly control his chakra to use the Bunshin no Jutsu, Naruto had to really concentrate, though Kakashi was training him to ensure that controlling his chakra while performing the Bunshin no Jutsu would become second nature.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino and Kiba all gathered as the three girls decided to tell Choji and Kiba about Naruto and the Kyuubi, since they were the only two left in the dark.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Kiba, who now had a small white puppy sitting atop his head asked curiously, "And just where's Naruto?"

"I don't know where Naruto-kun went to," Hinata said with a sigh as she shook her head, "But he left the Ninja Academy in a really bad mood. I don't know what it was, but I think it may have had something to do with his photo."

Kiba just laughed.

"Yeah, he looked like a kabuki performer on a bad day, I wish I thought of that one," he said, still laughing.

"Anyway, what is it that you all wanted to talk about?" Choji said, deciding to change the subject before they got too far off track."

"R-right," Sakura said, sighing with nervousness evident in her voice, "You know that Mizuki-sensei turned traitor and used Naruto as a means of getting a top-secret scroll, don't you?"

The four boys all nodded, though Shikamaru and Shino wondered if Mizuki had mentioned the Kyuubi to Naruto and that's what the three girls had wanted to talk about.

"Uh huh, Naruto somehow managed to perform an advanced variation of the Bunshin no Jutsu that would have even experienced ninja struggling and beat him up," Choji said, feeling a bit envious that Naruto managed to pull of an incredibly advanced jutsu that was difficult for even jonin to perform.

"I heard about that," Shikamaru said with a sigh, "However, Mizuki was found dead in the forest with a kunai lodged in his throat and he was wearing an Iwa hitai-ate."

"Really?" Sakura asked as she and the other two girls looked at him in confusion, "That's weird, when we left him; he was alive and he was definitely wearing a Konoha hitai-ate. That much, I'm certain."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath before giving them a serious look, "So you're positive, then?"

"Yeah," Ino said, agreeing with Sakura, "He was definitely alive when we left him and his hitai-ate definitely belonged to Konoha, though he did mention that his father was an Iwa spy that was killed by the Yondaime and Sakura's tou-san."

"And he also mentioned on how he was going to give the scroll to Iwa to gain revenge on the village for praising the deaths of his parents," Hinata put in, "As well as selling me off to Kumo to gain something extra since Kumo's been after the Byakugan for a long time."

"Well, we can safely conclude that Mizuki was not acting alone," Shino said after summing everything up, "However, whoever he was working with must have betrayed him and killed him after you all left."

The three girls nodded, realising that that was a valid point.

"And whoever it was either may have been from Iwa or was looking to stitch Iwa up for the whole incident as relations between our two villages have been rather frosty since the end of the Third Great Shinobi War," Shikamaru went on, continuing where Shino left off, "And given what you said Mizuki said about his father, Iwa would be an ideal scapegoat."

The three girls nodded, though the possibility of Iwa's involvement was rather troubling. The three girls now knew without a shadow of a doubt that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime; the one Iwa blamed for their defeat. It wasn't hard for them to guess that Naruto's heritage was kept a secret to protect him from his father's enemies. However, Naruto looked a lot like his father and anyone who was anyone would easily make the connection if they weren't too caught up in their own hatred and grief over the loss of their loved ones at the paws of the demon locked inside him. If Iwa was involved with Mizuki, then it was possible that they knew about Naruto and given his appearance, unlike the people of Konoha, they'd easily make the connection and that they'd no doubt target him in order to take their revenge for what his father did, or they may try to recruit him into their ranks as a means of getting back at Konoha and laughing at the Yondaime from beyond the grave as if to say "You son's on our side now". It was indeed troubling, but Iwa could possibly know about Naruto's heritage and that posed problems.

"Anyway, Mizuki also mentioned…" Hinata started to say.

"Hold that thought," a new voice came, interrupting Hinata, causing the group to turn their heads.

Iruka, who had bandages wrapped round his neck and the back of his face from the injuries he sustain during his encounter with Mizuki landed on the ground not far from their location and took a minute to compose himself.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Hinata asked curiously with a hint of fear in her voice; fear that he was going to kill her in order to silence her since she knew about the Kyuubi.

"Sorry Hinata, but I must ask you to hold that thought," Iruka said in a seriously professional tone, "Hokage-sama sent me to find all of you."

This caused everyone on look on in curiosity.

"I know what you were going to say Hinata, but Hokage-sama wants to tell you all himself," Iruka went on, ignoring the curious looks on everyone's face, "He sent me to bring you all to him. It concerns Naruto and since he's managed to befriend you, Hokage-sama feels that you should all know the truth."

"The truth?" Kiba asked before realising that he meant the reason why Naruto was so hated, "So I guess Mizuki blabbed, huh?"

Iruka nodded.

"Come on, let's go," he said simply.

* * *

Back in the forest clearing, Naruto and Konohamaru were taking a break as they sat on a log drinking soda they had acquired from a nearby soda machine (who in their right mind puts a soda machine in the middle of a forest?) However, Naruto was curious about Konohamaru as he remembered his attempted "assassination" of the Sandaime and his declaration that he would become the Godaime Hokage and he also noted how, despite his smug look when Ebisu shouted out that he was the Sandaime's grandson that his eyes held a look of someone who was rather troubled.

"Hey, you mind telling me what your problem with jiji is?" he asked curiously, noticing that Konohamaru became rather troubled.

After a few moments of silence, Konohamaru sighed and Naruto noticed how he'd rather not talk about it, but Konohamaru had decided to indulge him anyway.

"My name is Konohamaru, Sarutobi Konohamaru," he said as he clenched his fists in anger, "Jii-san gave me that name; named me after the village because he said that it would be easy for everyone to remember and that it would bring me good luck, but no one ever calls me that. They all call me omago-sama despite the fact that everyone knows my true name and I hate it, I just hate it. It's just omago-sama, omago-sama. No one sees me for who I am; just who I'm related to and I'm really fed up with it. That's why I've got to become Hokage. I've just got to then everyone will have no choice but to acknowledge me as Konohamaru the person and not omago-sama."

Naruto listened to him intently as Konohamaru pictured himself standing looking down at the ground feeling upset as a giant menacing figure of the Sandaime was glaring down at him as if mocking him; as if to say, "You'll never escape my shadow, so deal with it".

Naruto had to say that they were indeed similar, yet different at the same time; like at opposite ends of the same spectrum. No one saw Naruto for who he was either. All they saw him as was the Kyuubi in human form and because of that, his life had been a living hell. Konohamaru on the other hand was treated like royalty because of who he was related to and not because of anything; he himself did. In a way they were similar; both wanting the village to acknowledge them for the people they were and not for what they saw them as. As stupid as Naruto acted, he was quite intelligent, though it was probably due to having befriending some of the children along with his time with Kakashi. He recognised Konohamaru's problem and also knew that opinions did not change overnight. He was a ninja, but he knew that the villagers' opinion would not change; in fact, they'd probably only grow to hate him even more as they felt that he had no right being a ninja and would fear him even more since he was now in a position that he could deal with them and possibly get away with it.

"No way," Naruto said dismissively, "Who'd look up to a squirt like you if you did become Hokage?"

"Huh?" Konohamaru said with a mixture of surprise and anger.

"You're such an idiot," Naruto went on, ignoring Konohamaru's comment, "You can't just become Hokage at the wave of a magic wand. The Hokage title is something that you'll have to earn; it's not something that can be handed to you just because you want it. If you really want to become Hokage that badly…"

"Well… what?" Konohamaru demanded as he glared at Naruto, ready to attack him for talking down to him.

"You'll have to defeat me first because I also want to become Hokage," Naruto replied with a confident, somewhat smug grin on his face causing Konohamaru to look at him in surprised astonishment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiruzen was standing on a balcony of the Hokage Mansion that the Hokage Monument overlooked as he stared up at Minato's face, wondering just what would become of his successor's son now that he was a ninja… well assuming he passed the real test.

"Hokage-sama," Iruka's voice came as he landed on the balcony along with Naruto's friends, "I brought them all as you instructed. So, did Naruto resubmit his ID photo?"

Hiruzen remained silent as he continued to look up at Minato's face. Sakura also looked up at Minato's face and gave a rather audible sneer of disgust, still furious at the Yondaime for his lack of arrangements concerning Naruto.

"You know, after the Mizuki incident I was treated him to ramen at Ichiraku's," Iruka went on with a smile, ignoring the fact that Hiruzen had not answered his question, "He seems determined to win over the approval of the villagers. He believes that by becoming a ninja, he can do that, though he knows that the villagers now probably only hate him even more."

"Yes, I have to agree with you there," Hiruzen said with a sigh as he turned to face the group, shaking his head, "People don't change that easily and some are so stubborn and determined to hang onto their hatred that they may not change at all."

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but Iruka-sensei said that you wanted to reveal to us why Naruto's hated so much," Choji said as he took a step forward.

"Yes, that is correct," Hiruzen replied with a nod, "Mizuki told Naruto and it devastated him, though thanks to Iruka and the three girls here, he was able to overcome his grief and defeat Mizuki."

"So why is Naruto so hated?" Kiba asked curiously.

Hiruzen's face became seriously stone-hard as he gave the group a stern look.

"I will tell you, but you all must promise me that you won't speak of this to anyone else, is that understood?" he said with a look in his eyes that told them that he only expected one answer, causing them all to nod nervously.

Hiruzen's face then softened somewhat, though there was still a hint of strict sternness in his eyes.

"As you know, twelve years ago, the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked the village, though; to this day, it's unknown as to why it attacked," Hiruzen started to explain, "You were probably told that both my successor and predecessor, the Yondaime Hokage battled the beast, defeating it at the cost of his own life."

Everyone, including Iruka nodded.

"Well, unfortunately, the Kyuubi, as a beast made up of pure chakra could not be killed by any mortal man, so the Yondaime had to find another way to defeat the beast," Hiruzen went on, "And so, he instead sealed the Kyuubi inside a human body and he chose a newborn baby with its umbilical cord freshly cut for this."

"And that baby… it was Naruto?" Kiba asked in stunned shock.

"His own son," Sakura commented bitterly, "He condemned his own son from the moment he was born."

Everyone turned to look at Sakura and Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock.

"I see that you're more resourceful and observant than I first thought Haruno-san; just like your father," he said before his face became serious, "Yes; Naruto was not only the Yondaime's chosen sacrifice; but also his son as he found himself unable to sacrifice the life of a random child if he wasn't prepared to sacrifice his own child. His best friend, Haruno Takeshi begged him to reconsider and volunteered you, Sakura as the Kyuubi's container, but the Yondaime refused."

Sakura's eyes widened at this.

"W-w-what, t-t-tou-an wanted me to carry that burden?" she asked in disbelief as she wondered just how different things would be if it had indeed have been her and not Naruto as the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

Hiruzen nodded.

"The Yondaime said, it would have labelled him a hypocrite if he had went along with you as its container," he went on, "Anyway, by containing the beast inside his body, Naruto is a hero to the village as he keeps it at bay; that was the Yondaime's last wish."

"A hero…?" Iruka asked in shock, clearly unaware of this.

"Yes," Hiruzen said with a sigh, "It was the Yondaime's wish that his son would be revered as a hero as he grew up. Unfortunately, as you know; that's not how most of the villagers saw it. Of course, not everyone knows this; just those who fought the beast twelve years ago and the villagers who were there. I decreed that no one was allowed to discuss this… even those who were caught whispering about it were executed. I hoped that since the children of today knew nothing of the Kyuubi and its connection to Naruto, then he would at least find some acceptance."

"Except the adults found ways round it," Sakura commented furiously, "Mizuki said that some parents murdered their children because they wouldn't shut up about it and six years ago when I first befriended Naruto, kaa-chan threatened to kill me if I persisted in looking into it."

"Yes, that is unfortunate," Hiruzen said with a sigh, "Unfortunately, I could not prove anything, so I had no choice but to let them away with it. Anyway the adults' treatment of Naruto was so contemptuous; so hostile that the children sensed their fear and hatred and soon they turned against him as well."

"Not us," Kiba said sternly, "Well, maybe at first, but two years after he befriended those three girls, we started to see him as a person. So what if he has a big-ass oversized bag of fleas inside him? It's not like he's the fox itself. He's too nice and carefree to be a demon."

"That's right, Naruto helped the academy out in dealing with one of its worse bullies; not to mention he refused to kill those he defended himself and others against," Choji put in.

"He's no demon," Shikamaru stated simply, "Demons don't cry."

Ino nodded as she recalled her mother interrupting their first meeting and how Shiori was absolutely livid that her daughter was standing up for him and how, as Ino believed it; was thinking for herself and not obeying her parents like the mindless drone that Shiori believed all children should be… at least that was how Ino envisioned that evil witch of a woman that she had the unfortunate pleasure of calling her mother. At least her father was more understanding and caring.

"I realise that," Hiruzen went on, "You've all sown Naruto kindness and proven to him that there are those who can accept him. However, most of the village don't see him as a human being. Do you all know what the ancients said about such things, do you?"

"No sir, what?" Iruka said, feeling somewhat depressed, knowing that Naruto still had a long way to go before he can be accepted by most of the villagers.

"They say that when people reject a person's very right to exist and then look at that person; their eyes become cold; colder than an ice storm in the coldest winter."

"But I still can't believe that the Yondaime didn't make more arrangement to ensure Naruto-kun's safety," Sakura said, her voice evidently bitter, "He wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero; did he honestly expect that the villagers would agree with that? I guess it's human nature. Sometimes it feels like people don't give a damn who does what; they just feel good just so long as someone is punished and they don't care who it is or whether or not they're guilty or innocent. Just so long as it's someone; facts can go to Hell and about Yondaime-sama's wife, what happened to her?"

Hiruzen groaned, knowing that Sakura now had a bitter hatred of the Yondaime for what happened to his son and he had to admit that Minato did seen to lack foresight for what would happen to Naruto. However, what he didn't tell the group… for their own safety was that he believed that the Civilian Council had manipulated the information that Minato passed on for their own benefit. He didn't tell the group that there were those that wanted Naruto dead for other reasons and were just using Kyuubi as an excuse. It was for their own protection as he knew that the Civilian Council would see them as a threat if they discovered that they knew the truth. Heck, even them knowing about the Yondaime being Naruto's father would put them in danger. The Civilian Council were so determined to seize power for themselves, which Hiruzen believed would lead to them oppressing the entire village just to hang onto their power since he knew they'd eventually become paranoid over losing it.

"I still can't believe that tou-san wanted me to be the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki," Sakura fumed furiously, "But I suppose it would have meant that Naruto-kun would have had a happier life."

"Gee, the Yondaime's son and we didn't know," Kiba said as he remembered seeing pictures of the Yondaime and remembered how much Naruto resembled him, "I can't believe we missed that."

"Yeah, how troublesome," Shikamaru put in.

"I wonder if kaa-chan knows about Naruto-kun's heritage," Sakura said aloud in wonder, "If she does, I hope she realises that she's disrespecting the wishes of her husband's best friend."

"Naruto-san's going to need all the support he can get," Shino commented simply, "And we'll be there to give it to him."

* * *

Later, back in the forest clearing, both Naruto and Konohamaru were alerted by the sound of feet landing on a tree branch behind them, causing them both to turn and look up to see Ebisu looking down on them.

"I found you," he said to Konohamaru and then noticed Naruto and shot him a contemptuous ice-cold glare.

"The Kyuubi…!" he thought furiously.

Naruto just groaned furiously as he returned Ebisu's glare.

"It's that same ice-cold glare again," he thought, feeling rather upset and agitated, "It always seems that no matter what, they all look at me like that."

Ebisu jumped off the tree and decided to deal with Konohamaru before dealing with Naruto.

"Omago-sama, it's time to go home, back to the village," he said as he started to walk towards Konohamaru, "You really mustn't hang out with this lowlife ruffian; he's not even subhuman; he's even lower than dirt."

"Why don't you come and say that to my face you blind bozo!" Naruto thought as he glared dangerously at the sunglasses-wearing idiot, sending a wave of killing intent his way.

Ebisu suddenly stopped and shuddered as he felt the wave of killer intent hit him as he felt rather threatened by it, but he just regained his composure and shrugged it off while shoot Naruto a boastful glare as if to say, "You can't touch me".

"Get lost!" Konohamaru shouted furiously at him, "I'm training so I can become the next Hokage, so don't get in my way."

"Omago-sama, you must realise that a Hokage is more than just another ninja, he must not honour, wisdom and he must be skilled in over a thousand jutsu," Ebisu went on, not in the least bit put off by his student's rant, "I doubt you even know how to perform even one jutsu."

Konohamaru groaned and then formed a hand seal.

"Henge!" he shouted.

He then burst into smoke and transformed into an older long-haired female version of himself; totally in the nude with smoke covering "her" more intimate areas.

"Hi there, like what you see?" the female Konohamaru asked in a girl's voice with a seductive tone.

Ebisu screamed in pure shock and disbelief as his mouth hung open, though it was clear he was fighting the urge to give in to his perverted side; something that Naruto was aware of and it caused his face to light him in a devious grin.

"I know what'll bring this guy down," he thought with a snigger.

The female Konohamaru then burst into smoke, revealing the real Konohamaru, who looked at Ebisu in surprise and disappointment.

"Hey, what gives, I thought that was supposed to defeat him," he said, clearly not too pleased with Ebisu's reaction.

"W-W-WHAT SORT OF DISGUSTING DISPLAY IS THAT!" he shouted at the top of his voice as his hands were out in front of him and his fingers bent and twitched before he regained his composure.

"Oh I'm sorry Konohamaru," Naruto said in a mockingly apologetic tone, "But it seems that this guy isn't really into girls. I think he likes to get in bed with other men."

"WWWWHHHHAAAATTTT!" Ebisu screamed in pure outrage at what Naruto was implying.

"That's so freakin' gross," Konohamaru said with a cringe as he believed he turned a shade of green just thinking about the implications of Naruto's statement.

"I'M NOT GAY!" Ebisu screamed, still outraged before taking a few deep breaths and calmed down, "You're sadly mistaken heathen boy. Such obscene vulgarity cannot influence me. I'm far above all that."

He then grabbed Konohamaru scarf and started pulling at it in order to drag Konohamaru away, but Konohamaru tried walking in the opposite direction and started throwing his fists out in front of him.

"Omago-sama, this thing is turning you into a mini-heathen," Ebisu said as he tried to pull, but Konohamaru resisted with equal force, "Only by following my instructions and my tutelage will you find the quickest shortcut to becoming Hokage. You can't let this piece of garbage influence you."

"Beat it four-eyes!" Konohamaru shouted as he still struggled against his so-called tutor, "Just leave me alone!"

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto's voice came, causing Ebisu and Konohamaru to stop as the entire area seemed to fill with smoke.

Naruto had obviously had had enough of this so-called sensei's interference and seeing how unhappy Konohamaru was; decided to do something about it. When the smoke cleared, the whole area was filled with Naruto's kage bunshins.

"Ha!" Ebisu said smugly as he walked to a clear spot among the kage bunshins, "You think you can intimidate my with that overrated jutsu."

"Wow, this is so cool," Konohamaru said as his face burst into excitement and he started moving his arms up and down in front of him excitedly as he mentally cheered Naruto on.

"I'm not in the least bit impressed," Ebisu went on dismissive as he dropped into a fighting stance, "So you can perform a kinjutsu without feeling the effects of its weaknesses, ha! Big deal, I know why that is. So then, come on then and I'll show you how a true ninja, a jonin defeats a stain in this world's existence. You'll find that I'm a totally different game from that insect, Mizuki. He's a peon compared to me."

"Man, does this guy like hearing himself speak or what?" Naruto thought as he brought his hands together and formed a hand seal.

"Henge!" he shouted as his kage bunshins all formed the same hand seal.

"HENGE!" they all shouted in unison and Naruto and the kage bunshins all burst into smoke, leaving Ebisu stunned at what they were planning.

However, when the smoke cleared, in their place was the older nude female version of Naruto; all of them assuming the same form.

Ebisu's bottom jaw dropped down to the ground as he looked on in shock, unable to resist the urge to ignore them and if that wasn't enough, all the female Narutos rushed him and grabbed him and touched and groped him all over while saying seductive comments to him. Try as he might, he just couldn't resist and blood suddenly gushed out of his nose and he involuntarily took a huge leap backwards. Unfortunately, he landed crotch-first with his legs on either side of a log, causing the kage bunshins, the real Naruto and Konohamaru to wince as they witnessed the impact.

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," Konohamaru said quietly as he couldn't help but almost feel a small pang of sympathy for his so-called trainer.

However, Ebisu was so overwhelmed be the image of the female Narutos having their way with him that Naruto wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't aware of the pain between his legs… yet.

"Gotcha with my Haremu no Jutsu," Naruto said as he cancelled the henge with his arms crossed in front of him, striking a pose as the kage bunshins all burst into smoke, disappearing as they were no longer needed.

* * *

In his office, Hiruzen saw the whole thing in his crystal ball and it only caused him to groan in annoyance as his expression became one of revulsion.

"Great, he's combined kage bunshins with his own invention, the Oiroke no Jutsu," he said as he shook his head in disgust, "What a vulgar display to show my grandson."

"And he'd probably get me with it to," he added in his thoughts as he remembered how easily he had given into his perverted side the last two times, as well as so many numerous times in the past.

He then looked up at the entrance of the office to see Haruno Fuhei standing just inside the room looking at the crystal ball with an expression of absolute shock as the colour was completely drained from her face.

"J-j-j-just like…" she stuttered, unable to string her words together as she remembered an incident not long after she had graduated from the academy.

* * *

**Twenty-three years ago**

_Thirteen-year-old Kakuyoku Fuhei was rather excited. Namikaze Minato, the best student in class had wanted to talk to her. It was after their graduation and though they were not on the same three-man team, Fuhei was rather content with that. At least that troublemaker from Uzu no Kuni, Uzumaki Kushina wasn't on "her" Minato's team and she was content knowing that and to make matters better, Minato's jonin sensei was Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin. It had been something of a victory for her. Neither she nor that prankster she-demon where on Minato's team and that made everything else more bearable._

"_I wonder what Minato-kun wants to talk to me about," Fuhei thought rather excitedly, completely ignoring the fact that it had been Kushina that had told her that Minato had sent her to look for her._

_She had been suspicious at first, but as soon as Kushina had mentioned Minato's name, all her suspicions went down the drain as all she could think about was Minato and formulated possibly scenarios in her head that involved them both going out on a date and eventually getting married as in her mind, Minato would chose her and her alone. It was her dream come true as far as she was concerned and nothing could possibly ruin it._

_Skipping along the corridor of the Ninja Academy happily, she reached the room that Kushina had said Minato was waiting in._

"_Minato-kun!" she said excitedly as she opened to door and walked in and was surprised to find that the room was empty. However, before she could contemplate this, she noticed a bucket hanging over her head and before she could react, the bucket tilted and poured its contents down on the unsuspecting girl; a type of green liquid that had started to eat away at her clothes._

"_W-w-w-what?" she said as she looked in horrified shock as her clothes started to vanish; like someone was pulling at a loose threat and was causing the whole thing to unravel._

_She suddenly heard the familiar laughter of a certain girl who she knew was responsible._

"_I gotcha good," the voice of said girl said as she continued to laugh as Fuhei spun round to glare at her._

* * *

**Present**

Fuhei remembered seeing the finger of the girl pointing at her as she laughed. That had been the most hurtful and humiliating experience she had ever experienced in her entire life. She remembered that she had been too afraid to go outdoors for a whole month as she had been made a laughing stock. She had felt so exposed and violated back then and the pain was unbearable and to top it off, the culprit never apologised and outright avoided her afterwards. It had taken her a good few months before she had recovered from that incident completely, but seeing Naruto and his vulgar display through the Sandaime's crystal ball had brought those memories she had struggled to so much bury in the deepest reaches of her mind so many years ago coming to the surface. In fact; his graffiti of the Hokage Monument a few days ago had brought those memories to the surface and now she found herself experiencing the same sort of pain she had experienced back then… of how her clothes had been eaten away by that special acid that dissolved her clothes and left her in her birthday suit. It had been embarrassing and humiliating and to have the culprit laugh at her like it was all a joke was what she found most hurtful.

"T-t-they're the same," she thought as she clenched her eyes shut and shook her head before turning on her heal and walking out the door.

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry Hokage-s-s-sama, b-b-b-but I h-h-h-have to c-come back later," she stuttered, on the verge of tears, "I-I-I r-r-r-really n-n-need to be a-a-alone."

Hiruzen sighed as Fuhei stormed out the office and closed the door with an almighty slam. He had called Fuhei to his office to clear up the matter of her threatening her daughter six years ago after Sakura announced that she had threatened to kill her when she persisted in finding out the truth about Naruto. He remembered Sakura mentioning it during their meeting in which he revealed the truth to Naruto's friends.

"Naruto, you may have the appearance of your father, but you have the same troublesome unpredictable personality as your mother," he said with a sigh as he used his crystal ball to observe Fuhei who was running out of the building with tears in her eyes, "Unfortunately, I fear that you've hurt Haruno-san a lot more than you've realised with your graffiti a few days earlier and now again, though this time it was unintentional. However, I doubt she'll see it that way."

* * *

Back in the forest clearing, Konohamaru looked on in amazement after witnessing Naruto defeat his so-called trainer and then upon realising his own failure, he started to throw a temper tantrum.

"Damn it, I failed to defeat him again, just like all those other times!" he screamed as he started jumping up and down furiously, "All I want is for people to acknowledge me for who I am and not my grandfather. Why? Why can't I get it? I want it right now, right now"

"Wow, wow there squirt," Naruto said, holding his hands up in front of him as he tried to calm the eight-year-old down, "You think you can just get something just because you want it. Get real, you can't just get something just because you want it and expect it to be handed to you. In life, no one gets everything they want. The Hokage is the most respected shinobi in the village. As for me, I was the most hated person in the village. My life was one bad situation after another and I admit, I was tempted to just give up. However, I then started making friends; even an adult and even then; even though he believed in me and treated me like I was a human being, he was very hard to win over. So are you ready to make a commitment?"

"A commitment?" Konohamaru said in confusion.

"Yeah; everybody… and I do mean everybody has the utmost respect for the title of Hokage-sama."

Konohamaru just stared at him in confusion and opened his mouth to speak.

"So, you get it yet, squirt?" Naruto said as he turned his head back to face him with a carefree grin, "There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. You really have to work hard and train. If you want to become Hokage, you'll have to earn it."

Konohamaru's eyes widened in shock as he remembered Naruto's earlier declaration.

"_You'll have to defeat me first because I also want to become Hokage,_" he remembered Naruto saying and then he reached an epiphany and then glared at Naruto.

"Just who do you think you are trying to lecture me?" he said in a demanding tone, surprising Naruto, though he did not feel in the least bit insulted, "I'm not longer going to be your apprentice; from now on, consider me your archrival."

He then laughed at Naruto and Naruto smiled back.

"Well, it's gonna be difficult for you since I already have a head start on you," Naruto said boastfully, though there was a hint of friendliness mixed in, letting Konohamaru know that Naruto wasn't talking down to him, "I'm always gonna be one step closer to my destiny, but hey… maybe someday, we can fight to see which one of us gets to become Hokage and I don't intend to lose to a shrimp like you. I'll be looking forward to it… Konohamaru."

"Huh?" Konohamaru wondered in amazement, surprised that Naruto had addressed him by his name and not omago-sama or those other insulting names.

* * *

Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen watched the scene through his crystal ball with a smile on his face.

"It's going to be a long and difficult path for you if you really want to become a true shinobi," he thought seriously, though the smile never left his face, "I see great challenges and tribulations ahead for you Naruto. If both you and my grandson both want to become Hokage, it may not be as easy you think, but I know that you'll find a way to reach it and I'm impressed that you've managed to keep your vow on how you would never kill anyone. Unfortunately, now that you're a shinobi, you may have no choice but to break that vow and the question is Naruto, can you really bring yourself to do it?"

* * *

**Glossary**

Kabuki – Traditional highly stylised classical Japanese dance-drama

Nuke-nin – Missing Ninja

Haremu no Jutsu – Harem Technique (Oiroke no Jutsu with kage bunshins)

Taicho – Captain (can also be used as a suffix)

Omago-sama – Honourable grandson (Omago means royal grandson and we all know what the sama suffix means; the utmost respect for someone who is higher in rank)

Jii-san – Grandfather (the san suffix is used as a sign of respect)

* * *

**Author's note **– Another chapter done and before I get started I just want to say that last chapter, I got a bit mixed up. It's not this week I leave for Calais, it's next week, I leave on the Tuesday and come back on the Thursday just as I mentioned, last chapter, just that it's next week, so sorry about that. I got mixed up with the dates. Next chapter will be team selection and I have to admit that I'm a bit stuck as to what I want. Do I do Naruto with the canon team 7 to really test Sasuke's patience or do I do something else entirely? I have a few ideas buzzing about my head concerning that. By the way, I forgot to mention, last chapter when Inner Sakura cheered Naruto on while he was beating up Mizuki, did anyone know which movie I got her dialogue in her cheering from? Anyway, as you can see, I had a mixture of canon scenes from both the anime and manga and original scenes (One original scene with elements added to Iruka's meeting with the Sandaime when he explained to the "rookie 9" about Naruto and Kyuubi). As for Fuhei near the end, I just wanted to include her more, as that incident twenty-three years ago will be part of the main reasons behind her hatred of Naruto and can anyone guess who I based her delusional mind on during that flashback… it's so obvious. Anyway, the latest manga's not out yet, but if the spoilers are right, then Naruto's become rather stupid as his third option involves both him and Sasuke… I won't say anymore as I don't want to spoil it. Anyway, on a side note, if I discover mistakes on previous chapters, I go back and sort as many of them out as I can or if I discovered a word I missed, I go and put it up in the end-of-chapter Glossary I put at the end of each chapter for know Japanese words and also, in future, if I don't update for a long time and the fic's still up on the site, then fear not; I haven't abandoned the fic. You'll know if I abandon a fic as I will take it down off the site unless it's finished. However, I don't plan on doing that with this fic anytime soon.


	13. Team Selection, the spy from ROOT

**Naruto – Legacy of the Yondaime Hokage**

**Chapter 13 – Team Selection, the spy from ROOT**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property Masashi Kishimoto. This is just a story using his characters and I'm not looking to make any money out of this.

* * *

"**Demon/Inner Sakura"** talking/thinking

"_Flashbacks_"

"Normal"

* * *

**Warnings** – Strong (though not invincibly strong), smart Naruto, Major OOC and possible Lemons (unsure at this point)

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto sat up in his bed and let out a rather wide yawn as he stretched his arms into the air. It was a brand new day in the village of Konohagakure no Sato and the sun shone through the window of the apartment, highlighting its untidiness in its golden glow. The floor was practically littered with debris ranging from half-eaten food items to food wrappers and empty ramen cups. Naruto just did not see the point in cleaning out his own apartment since people had come in and messed it up over the years; sometimes in his absence and other times when they were trying to kill him. Heck, he remembered one time two years previously, someone had come in and dumped the contents of their litter bin in the centre of his apartment with a rather cruel graffiti message on the wall in crimson-red spray-paint that read "Rot in the filth where you belong demon-spawn".

However, Naruto had just washed the message off the wall and ignored the extra mess. He was used to it. Years of living alone since he had been thrown out of the orphanage and having no one to set him straight about the lack of cleanliness of his apartment had made him grow accustomed to it, though he knew that it was wrong for his apartment to be in this condition, but still, he made do and knew that if he did clean up, then the villagers would probably just make a mess again, causing him to clean it up again.

"Huh?" he said as he noticed the calendar pinned up on the opposite wall from the window and noticed that the 15th of the month had been circled in red and he suddenly remembered what today was, "The Ninja-Orientation, damn, I almost forgot."

Looking at his clock, he was relieved to realise that he still had plenty of time and so, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and then stood up and walked over to the fridge that he had in the corner of his room to the left of the door. Aside from his bed, his apartment also had a blue fridge, a cooker next to the fridge and a wooden table with a single wooden chair near the centre of the room. In the corner to the right of the door was a wooden cupboard with a set of drawers beside it and a mirror hung on the wall directly above the set of drawers. However, Naruto just made his way over to the fridge and opened the door before taking out a carton of milk and a cup of ramen.

It wasn't long before Naruto was sitting at the table, still in his blue PJs, though he had removed his black and white cap that was shaped like the top of a dog's head, complete with eyes, a nose and two flat teeth that came down at the front.

"So, today's the day, eh?" he said to himself with a chuckle, "Well, I suppose that I can now just chow down now that I'm a ninja."

He knew that he may not be a ninja for long since he was already aware that the real graduation test was administered by the jonin-sensei that would be assigned to his three-man squad and despite his confidence, he secretly feared that he would not pass since he had no idea what the test would be. He knew that each test was different and that it all depended on the jonin-sensei and he knew that they all had different standards. Anyway, taking his chopsticks, he manoeuvred them so that they would grab the noodles all at once and then put them in his mouth before sucking them all up.

Not long after finishing his breakfast, he went over to the cupboard and the set of drawers and saw his hitai-ate neatly sitting atop the set of drawers, though for the time being, he ignored it as he opened the doors to the cupboard to look out a set of clothes. Now, if he hadn't gotten training from Kakashi and if he didn't make any friends, he would have probably had multiple outfits that would all be identical and mostly orange as it was his favourite colour, but orange of so bright that it was not an ideal colour for a ninja to wear. However, ever since he killed the owner of the General Store's brother six years previously and started training with Kakashi and made friends, he had gotten a lot smarter and knew what and what not to wear. Anyway, his loud boisterous nature had just been cries for attention and Naruto knew that if not for Kakashi and his friends, he probably would have become a rather obnoxious idiot who would probably overestimate himself and his abilities and fall easy prey to whatever the jonin sensei had planned.

However, when his eyes fell upon a pair of white trousers and a long-sleeved white shirt, he reached for them. True, they were white and at first glance looked as if they were not suited for shinobi, but Naruto knew that those clothes were special. After the whole incident with Sasuke, which led to Akito trying to get him expelled, which ended in his death when he decided to try and kill him and came close to revealing that he was the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi's no Yoko four years previously, Naruto remembered that the day after that, Kakashi had taken him to a clothes shop, the Suchiruhanga, which was owned by an old friend of Kakashi's former teammate, Rin as well as a retired kunoichi, Orimono Hagane who specialised in making clothes. These particular clothes were designed in such a way that they would become infused with the wearer's chakra and using the infused chakra, the wearer could rather effectively change the colour of the clothes to whatever colour they wished.

Fortunately for Naruto, Hagane was not with the majority of villagers in believing that he was the Kyuubi in human form, though, thinking back, Naruto knew that back then, he had no idea why he had been so hated and had only found out a few days ago with Mizuki had used him to steel the Fuin no Sho and then revealed the reason why everyone hated him. Anyway, luckily for Naruto, Hagane didn't share the villagers' animosity towards him and even trained him in the Meisai no Jutsu, the jutsu that caused the clothes to change colour. It was a jutsu used for camouflage, which was the main purpose of the outfit. The wearer was meant to use the outfit's colour-changing properties to blend in with the surrounding environment; for example, if they were hidden in tall long grass, then they could make the outfit turn green to blend or in in the desert, they could turn the outfit the colour of the sand. Naruto nodded to himself as he decided that the outfit would be ideal and so quickly got out of his PJs and into the outfit and then tied his hitai-ate round his head with the metal plate over his forehead. He then got into a jutsu stance and started to make hand seals.

"Tori, Tori, Tora," he chanted as he said the name of each individual hand seal and then clapped his hands together as it was also part of the jutsu he was meaning to perform, "Tori, Mi, Meisai no Jutsu – Kasshoku!"

Naruto found himself suddenly engulfed with smoke as the familiar popping sound was heard. However, when the smoke cleared, Naruto smiled once he saw that the outfit he wore had turned brown. Nodding to himself, he decided to experiment some more as it was possible for the wearer to only change the colour of part of the outfit by cutting off the flow of chakra to the part of the outfit that they didn't want to change. However, the biggest drawback to the Meisai no Jutsu was that it took great chakra control and an awful lot of concentration to pull off; especially when cutting of the chakra flow to parts of it. It had taken Naruto the best part of three years before he had been able to master it properly and pull it off as if it were second nature to him and according to Hagane, there were more advanced forms of the Meisai no Jutsu that extended the colour changing to the person's hair and skin, though she had deemed that Naruto was too inexperienced to learn the advanced forms of the jutsu and had told him to get accustomed with what he already knew.

* * *

A little while later, Naruto was walking down the street on his way to the Academy as he brushed off the glares of everyone that passed him by. As for the colouring of his outfit, he had made the trousers dark green, the torso of the shirt brown and its sleeves dark blue. Many people noticed him and threw their usual glares at him, but upon noticing his hitai-ate, which symbolised that he was a ninja only caused their glares to intensify since they felt that he had no right to be a ninja and though they would never admit it, they were also somewhat afraid that as a ninja, they could not do what they usually do with him since attacking a ninja was considered a very serious crime.

Anyway, upon approaching a fence, Naruto could not help but notice a huge lump in the fence at that the area where the "lump" was was out of synch with the reach of the fence and there were two groups of fingers poking out from the top of the "lump". The lines in the fence that were supposed to be vertical were horizontal instead, plus the fact that it was coming out in a lump could only mean one thing.

"Konohamaru," Naruto thought with a rather unimpressed expression on his face, "That's even worse than his last attempt at the Kakuremino no Jutsu."

As if on cue, Konohamaru revealed himself as Naruto continued to walk toward him, not really all that bothered as the eight-year-old's antics.

"Prepare to die Naruto," the Sandaime's grandson said as he lunged towards Naruto with a raised fist, but unfortunately for him, his foot caught in the Kakuremino cloak, causing him to trip and fall on his front, but he fortunately placed his hands on the ground, breaking his fall.

This caused Naruto to stop with a rather bored look on his face as he tilted his head slightly.

"Gee, that was a slick move," Konohamaru said looking up at Naruto as he recovered from his fall, "I never saw that one comin', but then again, that's why I respect you as my rival."

"But I didn't do anything," Naruto said, totally nonplussed at how Konohamaru could possibly believe that he had performed some sort of secret jutsu when in fact it was him tripping over the Kakuremino Cloak that stopped him.

However, if Konohamaru heard him, then he had chosen to ignore him as he quickly got to his feet and dropped into the jutsu stance and was ready to perform the hitsuji hand seal.

"Okay Naruto, get ready to fight me," he said as he trembled with excitement, "This is it; this is our greatest battle ever."

"I can't right now, I've got this orientation," Naruto state, still in his bored tone, causing Konohamaru to lean forward and then face-vault.

"Orientation?" Konohamaru said after he'd picked himself up.

"Uh huh, as I told you the last time we met, I've only just become a ninja and now I'm on my way to see which three-man squad I'll be part of," Naruto started to explain, "And then the jonin-sensei will administer a test to see if we truly are ready to become ninja. So, like I told you believe, I could be handing this hitai-ate back in a few days."

"Ouch, major bummer," Konohamaru said with a groan, "Anyway, I hope you make it because if you don't, who will I have to prove myself against?"

Naruto just chuckled at that.

"Don't worry, even if I fail, I'll still try for next year," he said with a smirk, "Nothin's gonna stop me from becoming Hokage. I don't care if I have to take the Graduation Exam a million times over; I'll still find a way to become Hokage, but until then… later Konohamaru."

He then started walking away and Konohamaru watched him go with a look of admiration on his face. It had been a day since the whole incident with Ebisu and Naruto's pep talk and needless to say, Konohamaru was seriously taking it to heart. Naruto was someone he could honestly say he admired. He was grateful to him for getting rid of that annoying nutcase that he had the unfortunate privilege of calling his sensei and speaking of Ebisu, Konohamaru remembered staying after Naruto had left and once the jonin had recovered from the female Narutos' groping, the pain between his legs had caused him to limp away and he remembered how Ebisu complained of phantom sensations of the pain after he recovered whenever he thought about that incident.

* * *

Meanwhile, Haruno Sakura was currently in her room dressed in a pair of blue sandals, dark green shorts with bandages tied round her upper right leg and a red short-sleeved Chinese style dress with white outlining and the O symbol of the Haruno Family on the back and of the two flaps at the front and back near the bottom. The Haruno O symbol also appeared at the sides of the sleeves where the sides of the shoulders were the bottom of the O symbols merging with the dress's outline, which was highlighted by an upside-down V design that pointed upwards. Her hitai-ate was tied atop her head in the same manner the red ribbon that Ino had given her had been. She was currently looking herself over in the mirror and applying some finishing touches to her looks. Despite no longer being a fangirl pinning after Uchiha Sasuke, she still prided herself in her looks and also she wanted to give off a look of someone who preferred their looks over their ninja training in the hope that any future opponents she had to face would definitely underestimate her and then she could throw them off-balance more easily. After all, ninja and deception go hand in hand. She then gave herself a wink, indicating that she was satisfied with herself.

"Sakura isn't it time that you get going?" the voice of her mother, Haruno Fuhei came from downstairs.

Sakura groaned at hearing her mother's voice. Ever since she had befriended Naruto six years ago, the relationship between the mother/daughter duo had become rather strained. Even today, Fuhei still hated Naruto for having the Kyuubi inside him, though the pinkette supposed that she could consider herself lucky that her mother didn't disown her like Ino's mother, Shiori did when Ino refused to stay away from Naruto and when Ino's father, Inoichi stood by his daughter and stood up for Naruto, Shiori had gotten a divorce and had moved out. However, unlike Fuhei, Shiori did not have the same fear of being alone that the Haruno matriarch did and Sakura knew that it was because of her mother's fear of being alone, since she had lost her husband in the Kyuubi attack and Sakura was all she had. Nonetheless, the fact that Sakura was friends with the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki had driven a wedge between them.

Now Sakura knew the truth. Naruto was not only the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, but he was also the Yondaime's son and that knowledge brought a resentment towards the Yondaime; a resentment that the Yondaime had not done more to safeguard Naruto and because of it, Naruto had lived every day of his life wondering if he would survive to see the next sunset and whenever he felt asleep, he would wonder if he'd ever wake up to see the next day as he feared that someone may decide kill him in his sleep. Needless to say, Sakura knew that bringing it up with her mother was pointless. She remembered that her mother had threatened to kill her if she persisted in trying to find out why Naruto was hated so much six years previously and she knew that revealing that she knew the truth and that she was still his friend would undoubtedly push Fuhei over the edge and she knew that her mother would not believe that Naruto was really the Yondaime's son. Her anger would prevent her from seeing the truth and even if she could prove it, she knew that her mother would just go into denial and she also had a sneaking suspicion that even if she did manage to get enough proof to prove all her mother's denial's wrong, Sakura feared that her mother would decide that she didn't care and continue to hate Naruto anyway just because she believed that someone had to suffer for her husband's death.

"I know, I'm on my way out now," she said in response to her mother's statement.

"**I'm not a child anymore; I'm a full-fledged ninja now, Shannaro!**" Inner Sakura protested furiously as she spoke what Sakura really wanted to say to her mother.

Speaking of her mother, despite the strain on their relationship, Sakura still cared for her deeply. She remembered the previous day when she had gotten home after the Sandaime had gathered her and her friends and revealed the truth behind the Kyuubi attack. She had heard her mother crying when she confronted the elder pinkette on it, she had seen that tears streaming down her mother's face and Fuhei had told her that it was nothing she should worry about and that she didn't want to talk about it. However, it really worried Sakura and she had to wonder if Naruto's prank before the Mizuki incident had gone too far, but she knew better than to ask Fuhei as her mother had been really distraught and the last thing Sakura wanted to do was hurt her mother.

Anyway, putting it to the back of her mind, she walked out the door and started making her way to the front door.

* * *

Later, Sakura was walking down the street towards the Academy wondering just what was in store for her now that she had graduated.

"So now that I've graduated, I suppose it means that I'm not a little kid anymore," she mused to herself, ignoring the glares that passers-by shot her due to her known association with Naruto, "Haruno Sakura, Kunoichi Extraordinaire."

She then shook her head, realising that she was getting ahead of herself.

"No… at least not yet," she went on in her thoughts, "I've yet to pass the real graduation test and well… let's face it, I just don't know what my assigned jonin-sensei will do for the real test."

It was true that she was indeed aware of the real test and the possibility that she may have to hand her hitai-ate back if she failed. Naruto had been the one who had told her about the test. His secret trainer, Hatake Kakashi had been assigned a genin team every year and each team that he had been assigned, he failed due to them not meeting his standards. Sakura knew that the graduation test she and the others had passed was meant to determine who had the potential to become ninja and that the real test was to see who was ready to become ninja and who needed more training. Each test was different as it all depended on the jonin-sensei and what standards they wanted to set. Unfortunately for the teams that Kakashi had been assigned, Kakashi himself had far higher standards than any of the other jonin-senseis, though Naruto had refused to tell Sakura and the others what those standards were in case any of them ended up with Kakashi and Sakura had to say that she understood Naruto's reasoning. After all, if they went into the test knowing what their sensei expected, then it may lead to an inaccurate assessment and result in a team passing when they shouldn't have been passed.

"Bye tou-san, I'll see you later," a voice came, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts as she passed a building with a big green rectangular sign with a yellow outline above the entrance and in the rectangular sign was the kanji that read "Hana no Mise", and she knew that this was the Yamanaka Flower Store.

A few moments later, Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's first friend and the second of Naruto's friends emerged and from what Sakura could see, it was clear that she had followed her example in making herself look like a fangirl who prided her looks over her training and if Sakura hadn't known her very well, she would have been convinced that that's what Ino was; a beauty-obsessed fangirl, but thankfully due to their association with Naruto and realising that the boy they had both been obsessed over was nothing but a stuck-up arrogant snob, they both grew out of that phase. Anyway, Ino wore a pair of blue sandals and had bandages wrapped round her upper legs that started halfway between her hips and knees and the bandages extended all the way up to her stomach. She also wore a dark bluish purple skirt that had been cut at the sides and went down to just above her knees and on her upper torso, she wore a short sleeveless vest-like blouse the same colour as her skirt and with a raised collar that was so creased that it could have easily been mistaken for a scarf. On her arms she wore white arm-warmers with purple outlines at the end that went from her wrists to halfway between her elbows and shoulders and her hitai-ate was tied round her waist as if it were a belt and to complete Ino's look, she had her long blonde hair tied in a ponytail at the back and had small silver-ringed earrings hanging from her ears.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan," Ino greeted cheerfully with a friendly chuckle as she noticed her friend waiting for her.

"Ohayo Ino-chan," Sakura greeted with a smile as she started to walk and Ino walked beside her.

"So today's the day we become ninja, huh," Ino said simply.

"Yep, though you have to remember that we're not officially genin yet," Sakura explained with a hint of seriousness, "We'll be grouped into three-man squads and assigned a jonin, who'll be our sensei and he or she will administer the real test to see if we're ready to become ninja. According to Naruto-kun, each jonin is different."

"Yeah, I know," Ino said with a sigh, "Each jonin-sensei assigns a different test as they all have different standards. Well, I'll probably be partnered with Choji and Shikamaru.2

"Huh, what makes you say that?" Sakura asked curiously, "I know that your dads were all teammates, but what makes you so sure that you'll be with Shikamaru and Choji?"

"According to tou-san, the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clans have always had a rather close-knit relationship with one another," Ino explained with a sigh, "Long ago the heads of the three clans all made a pact to help one another out in accomplishing their missions. In fact, there's a memorial somewhere in the village with our three clans' symbols engraved on it to commemorate this close-knit relationship that we have."

"Gee, I didn't know that," Sakura said in wonder as her curiosity piqued.

"You see these earrings I have on my ears," the blonde-haired girl asked as she pointed to her ears and the pinkette nodded, prompting her to continue, "Well, they were given to me by tou-san. They were given to him by his tou-san, who in turn were given to him by… you get the idea."

"Yeah, so what's so special about them?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well, each jonin-sensei of the three-man genin squad that the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clans are a part of has always been a member of the Sandaime's clan, the Sarutobi Clan and it was a member of the Sarutobi Clan that gave the three-man team who made the oath the earrings and we wear them till we become chunin so as not to forget the oath between our clans… it's kinda like it's being whispered into our ears and once we're considered adult by our clans, we return the earrings. Each member of the Sarutobi Clan that leads us gives the latest generation a brand new pair of earrings anyway."

"Wow, I've known you for years, so how come I've never known this until now?" Sakura asked, feeling a bit miffed at the notion that her friend had withheld information from her.

"I never really found out until I graduated and even then, you never asked," Ino responded and Sakura nodded, deciding to just drop the subject.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Academy in one of the classrooms, Naruto sat happily chatting away to Hinata with Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji standing round about as they waited for Sakura and Ino to arrive.

Hinata was dressed in blue sandals, blue trousers with bandages wrapped round her upper right leg and a light cream-coloured hooded jacket with white fur at the bottom and yellow circles on the sides of the upper sleeves at the sides of Hinata's shoulders and in the circle was a spiralled fire symbol. Hinata also had her hitai-ate tied round her neck.

"So N-Naruto-kun, what's with the clothes?" she asked curiously as she looked him up and down and found his outfit intriguing.

"Oh this outfit, it's a Meisai-fuku," the blonde Jinchuriki explained, "It's a special outfit that goes hand-in-hand with the Meisai no Jutsu."

"Meisai no Jutsu?" Kiba said in a wondrous tone, "Camouflage, right?"

Uh huh," Naruto said and then proceeded to explain how it worked as the others listened.

Kiba wore blue sandals, dark brown trousers with bandages tied round his upper right leg and a grey coat with dark brown feral looking fur at the cuffs of the sleeves and the edge of the hood, which he had over his head His hitai-ate, which was visible underneath the hood was worn in the same manner at Naruto's and he had his puppy, Akamaru inside the jacket with his head popped her at the top where the zipper hadn't been zipped up to the top.

Shino wore blue sandals, dark brown trousers and a light bluish, greyish and greenish jacket with a high-rising collar along with his trademark black circular sunglasses with his hitai-ate worn in the same manner as Naruto and Kiba.

Choji wore blue sandals and had bandages wrapped round his legs. He also wore dark brown shorts with bandages wrapped round his upper right leg over the shorts. He also had light yellowish white t-shirt with the kanji symbol for food in red and surrounded by a red circle at the front and over the t-short he wore a green short-sleeved jacket and also had bandages wrapped round his lower arms from his elbows to where the first joints of his fingers were and each individual finger and its own set of bandages. He also had a white scarf wrapped round his neck and somehow managed to arrange his hitai-ate to look like a set of underwear that he was currently wearing over his head with two tuffs of his hair; one at either side and not only did he look as if he was wearing a set of underwear on top of his head, the tuffs of hair looking a bit like a pair of horns. Like Ino, he also had a set of earrings that were given to him by his father.

Shikamaru wore blue sandals, dark brown trousers with bandages wrapped round his upper right leg, a mesh sleeveless vest with a thick light green outline at the top and a rather small short-sleeved brownish grey waistcoat with the same green outline as the top of his vest. At the sides of the sleeves were dark blue circles with a line running down from the top to the bottom of each circle. He had his hitai-ate tied round his upper left arm and also had a pair of earrings that were given to him by his father. He also had his hair tied at the black, giving a rather short, spiky pony tail that could alternatively be made to represent a small fire.

Anyway, the four boys and one girl continued to listen to Naruto's explanation of the Meisai no Jutsu and how the outfit he wore was essential for the jutsu to work.

"Gee, I never realised that such a jutsu existed," Choji said in awe.

"Well, I didn't invent it," Naruto replied honestly, "It was taught to me by the owner of the Suchiruhanga Clothing Store. She's a retired kunoichi who specialises in that sort of thing."

"So, not everyone in this village's out to kill you, that's good to know," Hinata said with a sigh of happiness; happiness that not everyone Naruto happened to meet decided that they hated him the moment they first laid eyes on him. Either, Naruto's refusal to kill anyone when he stood up for himself was getting through to some of the villagers or not everyone believed that he was the Kyuubi in human form and they those that didn't believe he was the Kyuubi only distanced themselves from him for fear of the masses extending their anger and hatred to them like Sakura, Ino and to a lesser extent, Hinata herself experienced when they first made friends with him.

However, across from the group in the middle row of desks in the classroom in the middle desk at the middle sat the one boy who could easily have ruined the group's good mood and he had half a mind to go over and ruin the mood. Uchiha Sasuke sat with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped in front of his face with his eyes closed. This was his classic brooding pose; the pose he took whenever he was deep in thought and though he still looked cold, calm and calculating; on the inside, he was seething with a raw passionate fury as he listened to Naruto explain the Meisai no Jutsu and how his Meisai-fuku was essential for it. Four years was the last time he and Naruto had their last major conflict and unfortunately for him, it ended in him suffering defeat at the hands of Hyuga Hinata and because of the aftermath of that incident, Sasuke had been told to attend therapy sessions with the Yamanaka Clan. However, all those sessions did was teach him the value of patience and did nothing to dissuade him from his goals. If it had been four years ago, he would have undoubtedly made a move to ruin Naruto's day, but thanks to the patience he had acquired, he knew that now was not a great time to cause a scene. He would kill Naruto and his friends soon enough. He just had to wait for the perfect opportunity.

He wore blue sandals, blue shin guards that ran round his legs with all but the ends wrapped in bandages, light greyish white shorts with bandages wrapped round his upper right leg, a dark blue high-rise collared shirt with short sleeves and the Uchiha crest on the back and a pair of white arm warmers with a blue outline. He wore his hitai-ate in the same manner as Naruto, Kiba and Shino, but on the metal plate of his hitai-ate, he had stuck a sticker of the Uchiha Clan's crest over the village's symbol; making it clear to everyone that that he valued his clan over the village, though even doing this, he still received praise from the villagers who did not see the implications of his actions.

When he first showed off his hitai-ate with the Uchiha crest sticker, some shinobi had attempted to arrest him, but the people stood up for him, much to the ninja's chagrin and what was more, when he was brought before the Village Council, the Civilian Council actually praised him for it and actually preferred the Uchiha crest over the village's symbol, much to the shock and disgust on the Shinobi Council. The villagers were so blinded by their admiration that they were willing to overlook all the wrongs Sasuke had done in the hope that he'd warm up to them and get in his good graces. They actually believed that what he had done was a good thing and all because of their blind admiration. However, after a heated argument, the Sandaime had eventually bowed to pressure just to shut the civilians up and Sasuke felt as if he had won yet another victory.

However, his attention was suddenly diverted back to reality when he heard a horde of female voices; all arguing over who would sit next to him.

"Hey, I was here first, so I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun," one girl said in a rather aggressive tone.

"Screw you, I was here before you, so I'm sitting next to him," a second girl protested.

"In your dreams, that seat is mine," a third girl argued.

Sasuke did his best to ignore the loud voices of the bickering girls and remaining looking as calm as a cucumber as if nothing was bothering him.

"Annoying fools," he thought to himself, commenting on the girls as he thought back to Naruto and the Meisai no Jutsu; a jutsu that he felt that he should know.

It was why he was seething on the inside. He did not know the Meisai no Jutsu and upon hearing Naruto's explanation, he felt his rage flare as it was clear that Naruto could do something that he could not and the fact that the jutsu required a set of clothes to pull off only added to his fury as he did not have those types of clothes. He wanted those clothes and to learn that jutsu. Knowing what the Meisai no Jutsu entailed, he saw it as a valuable asset for the future. He could easily get the drop on his opponents before they even knew what hit them. However, he knew that Naruto would not teach him the jutsu and so he resolved to find the owner of the Suchiruhanga Clothing Store and force her to teach him. He was an Elite Uchiha and in his mind, that meant that he could just demand to be taught anything and whoever he wanted to teach had no say in the matter. He would force her to teach him, one way or the other. He needed that jutsu… though it was mainly because Naruto could perform a jutsu he could not and in Sasuke's mind, for a non-Uchiha to be good at something an Uchiha wasn't… it was an unpardonable crime and was deserving only of death.

"Just you wait Dobe," he thought as he flashed Naruto a deadly glare, "That jutsu will be mine one way or the other; even if I have to beat the woman to a pulp. I'll make you pay for upstaging the Uchiha."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen sat in front of a congregation of jonin; the jonin that had all been assigned as senseis to the three-man genin teams. On the desk in front of him was a crystal ball that showed what was going on in the classroom that the graduates all currently occupied. Currently, the crystal ball was focussed on Sasuke, who was still in his usual brooding pose.

"That's him, the survivor from the Uchiha Clan," one jonin said, studying him over.

"Yeah, most promising student, Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi noted as his one visible eye narrowed, "Too bad his attitude's not as great as his grades."

That much was true, despite Sasuke rather rebellious and boisterous attitude towards others, his grades were still among the highest in the class. In fact, despite Naruto's overall improvement since Kakashi started training him, Sasuke held the title, Rookie of the Year, though Kakashi knew that that may have been because Naruto had held back in a few events so as not to anger Sasuke. Kakashi knew of the problems with Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto had told him about Sasuke and needless to say, Kakashi was concerned. Sasuke was a loner and if what Naruto said was correct, then he was possibly plotting on leaving the village so as to acquire more power in order to find and kill his brother. Kakashi had done his own individual assessment of Sasuke in the past and his findings had been rather troubling. The real tests that determined who became genin and who went back to the Academy may be different from jonin-sensei to jonin-sensei, but the underlying meaning was the same; teamwork. Each test was set up so that the three genin would have no choice but to work together in order to pass and many tests were designed in such a way that they would normally pit the three genin against one another and the object of the test was to put aside their differences and work together in order to complete the task. Some tests were easier to pass than others; it all depended on the standards on the jonin-sensei. However, looking at Sasuke, Kakashi could honestly say right here and now that he was destined to fail the test since it was obvious that Sasuke would not want to work with his teammates; viewing them as worthless and even if there was someone stronger than him on the same team, Kakashi knew that Sasuke would view them as more of an obstacle in his way than a teammate. Kakashi had assessed that not only was Sasuke not ready to become a ninja; he should never become a ninja in the first place due to his attitude and to make matters worse, Sasuke had been assigned to Kakashi's team.

"Yes, I understand your concerns Kakashi," Hiruzen said with a sigh, "But the Civilian Council were most insistent that you train Sasuke since you're the only one with a Sharingan and who can teach him how to use it."

"I could honestly care less what the Civilian Council says," Kakashi said in disgust, knowing that the Civilian Council wanted him to pass Sasuke regardless of how poorly he did, "Since when were the Civilian Council allowed to butt their noses in shinobi affairs. This is a purely shinobi affair and has absolutely nothing to do with the civilians."

That was true and normally the Civilian Council kept out of the ninja graduation proceedings as they normally didn't care who passed or failed, but this year was different. This year, the Uchiha Heir had graduated and they definitely wanted to see him pass so that they could continue trying to get in his good graces. They feared that if he failed the real test, then they'd lose favour with him and that he could potentially leave the village. In fact if the Civilian Council had their way, Sasuke would have already passed and would not have to go through the real test. The fact that Sasuke had to be subjected to the same treatment as everyone else definitely annoyed them and so they had given Kakashi explicit instructions to pass him anyway and as for his two teammates, he was to ignore them and concentrate only on Sasuke.

"Like I have any intentions of carrying out their outrageous wishes," he thought with a sneer underneath his mask, "The kunoichi assigned to my team's no better and I know next to nothing about the third."

Hiruzen sighed as he shook his head. The Civilian Council were definitely giving him a headache recently. Not only were they pressuring him into allowing Sasuke to pass regardless of his attitude, they were also unhappy that Naruto had finally graduated as well. They hated the fact that the "demon-spawn" was now a ninja since they knew that he was effectively out of their grasp since he was a shinobi and the Civilian Council had no authority over the village's shinobi. In the past, it had been rather easy for them to target Naruto since he was not a shinobi and technically a civilian, which had put him in their sights. Now that Naruto was a shinobi, the Civilian Council knew that it would be much harder to try and do away with him. What Hiruzen feared was that the Civilian Council may decide to try and goad Naruto into attacking them as he knew that the only time that the Civilian Council could get involved with shinobi affairs was when a civilian was involved and he believed that they may get people to harass Naruto and provoke them into attacking them so that they could get rid of him.

"Not while I'm around," he thought as he started making plans to counter the Civilian Council and rein them in.

The crystal ball moved to a boy standing at the back of the class who was leaning against the wall and had his right foot on the wall as well. The boy in question had rather pale looking skin with ink-black eyes and jet-black hair. Instead of the usual dark blue coloured sandals, he wore dark grey sandals, dark grey trousers with the usual bandages wrapped round his upper right leg and the trousers had a white waistband with a black stripe running between the ends. On his upper body he wore a dark grey midriff shirt with a high collar at the back and a jacket that was a darker shade of grey than his shirt with red straps over his shoulders. However what was unusual about this jacket was that the right sleeve was a long sleeve, down to the boy's wrist and the left sleeve was a shot sleeve the same length as the short sleeves from a t-shirt. He also wore black gloves with the finger holes from the index and thumb fingers missing and had a backpack and a tip-less tanto mounted on his back. His hitai-ate, which was dark grey instead on the usual dark blue was tied round his head in the same manner as Naruto, Kiba, Shino and Sasuke had theirs.

"So that's Danzo's ROOT agent, the one assigned to keep an eye on Sasuke, eh," the Sandaime thought as he raised an eyebrow, "I never thought for one moment that Danzo and I would ever agree on anything, though I am worried about Itachi's reprisal should anything happen to Sasuke. Danzo, I hope you're not planning on having Sasuke killed. If Sasuke dies, then you know what Itachi will do if he believes that you're involved in it."

Hiruzen had not forgotten Itachi's threat to Danzo about going public with his mission and selling of all the village's secrets that he knew of to their enemies if Danzo harmed Sasuke and what was more, Itachi had received his blessing to do so, though he had only done it so as he could get his revenge on Danzo and his two former teammates for forcing him into the position where he had no other choice, but to order the Uchiha Clan's extermination. If it had been up to him, he would have continued trying to negotiate with Fugaku, but unfortunately, he had been overruled. It was a decision that he regretted even to this day; especially since he could see what was becoming of Sasuke and knew that Itachi's plan had worked too well and even though he would not admit it, he was rather tempted to let Danzo have his way and have Sasuke eliminated, but he remembered how Itachi had begged him to protect and not let anything bad happen to Sasuke.

"Easier said than done," he thought to himself, "Itachi, I hope you somehow come to realise the monster that you've potentially unleashed. I'll continue with you wishes for the time being, but I honestly don't know just how long I can go on like this."

Taking a brief glance back at the boy that he had identified as Danzo's spy and noticing the rather stoic, emotionless look on his face, he nodded as he came to a decision.

"Alright then, I'll let you have your way for now Danzo," he thought with a nod, "However, when it comes to espionage; two can play at that game."

* * *

Back in the classroom, Sakura and Ino had just arrived and noticed Naruto and the others.

"Ohayo minna," Sakura and Ino both greeted in unison as they waved to them.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," Naruto greeted as he waved back at them.

"Ohayo," everyone else greeted.

Sakura and Ino both blushed and then turned to face one another and then nodded.

"Hey movie it freak!" a familiar voice came and Ino suddenly felt someone place their hand on her back and violently shoved her forward.

It was then that Ino realised that she and Sakura were still standing in the doorway of the classroom, but it almost immediately didn't matter as she stumbled forwards and slipped, falling right into Sakura, who fell to the floor and as she moved to get up, her lips somehow made contact with the still-disoriented Ino's lips and everyone else in the classroom, who had all turned to see what was going on had widened eyes as they saw the two girls that appeared to be kissing one another. One of the boys actually whistled at the side.

"Oh my," Hinata said; at a loss for words as the familiar sound of a smooch could be heard throughout the classroom since everything had gone quiet.

A few moments later, both girls parted.

"Hey, don't stop!" someone shouted, clearly disappointed, "That's kinda hot!"

The girl that had shoved Ino was none other than Ami, the purple-haired girl, who had terrorised many of her classmates in the past until Naruto had humiliated her, not once, but twice and since then, she had vowed to get her revenge and get back on top. She wore blue sandals, black short that went down to her knees with bandages wrapped round her upper right leg, a grey shirt and a black jacket with chains attached to the chest area underneath the breast pockets. She wore her hitai-ate in the same manner as Naruto, Kiba, Sino and Sasuke.

Upon realising what had just happened, her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief, but then her face almost immediately transformed into a rather cruel and sadistic smile.

"Wow Ino, I always knew you were a freak like everyone else, I just didn't know how you were freak up until now," the cruel purple-haired girl boasted as she turned away from the two girls who had accidentally kissed, "But now I know how you're a freak. You're into other girls."

Ino and Sakura's eyes widened in shock, disbelief and surprise as they realised what had just happened.

"Oh Sakura, I-I-I'm so sorry, I-I…" Ino spluttered as she tried to figure out what to say.

"No need to apologise Ino-chan," Sakura said as she placed a hand on Ino's shoulder and flashed her a smile, "It wasn't your fault."

"**Shannaro! Naruto-kun was supposed to be my first kiss, Ami, you're gonna wish that you hadn't done that!**" Inner Sakura ranted while punching her fists out in front of her as her outer self and Ino picked themselves up while glaring at Ami.

"Guess that means that you have Whisker-Face all to yourself you white-eyed freak since the other two are too busy with each other," Ami boasted to Hinata, who just glared back at her, remembering that it had been because of this girl that she was finally able to befriend Naruto since Naruto, Sakura and Ino had come to her aid when Ami had decided to target her when Sakura had gained the courage to stand up to her.

"Oh Ami, my dear," Ino's voice came in a rather sinisterly polite tone, causing the purple-haired girl to turn her attention back to Ino and Sakura, who were both looking right at her with sinister grins on their faces, "You do realise…"

"That you're gonna pay for that," Sakura finished as she cracked her knuckles.

Ami gulped as the pinkette and blonde started to advance on her and she could feel their combined killing intent bearing down on her and she had to admit that it scared her and for the first time in perhaps a long time, Ami came to realise that she perhaps made a mistake.

"C-c-c-can't we talk about this?" she pleaded as she waved her hands up in front of her as if waving goodbye.

"You're finished," Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles and then turned her head towards Ino, "Let's get her Ino."

"With pleasure Sakura," Ino said, nodding in agreement.

"Hold on," Ami said, too terrified to move as the two girls got closer.

* * *

"Well, at least it's not Naruto," Hiruzen said as everyone in the Hokage's office watched the scene unfold, "Naruto's usually the one responsible for causing so much trouble."

"Why did the two girls have to break apart, that was getting good," one of the jonin complained.

"Pervert," one of the kunoichi present spat in disgust.

"Just who is that girl?" one of the others asked before the first person that spoke could reply.

"Kuroishi Ami," Hiruzen answered simply, "From what I've heard, she had amassed quite a reputation for being a bully until Naruto humiliated her, not once, but twice and that was when all her so-called friends abandoned her and those she normally targeted gained the courage to stand up to her and since then, she's become rather bitter and joined the Uchiha Sasuke club of fangirls."

"Fangirls, the bane of all kunoichi," Kurenai said in disgust as she recalled her own academy experiences in which she came across girls that were more interested in enhancing their looks to impress the boy they had a crush on rather than training, "I sometimes wonder why they're not all expelled. They give us kunoichi a bad name. In fact, the only three in that class I'd say who are worthy of being called true kunoichi are Sakura, Ino and Hinata; the three that have been hanging around Naruto. They're the only three I've seen training in their free time."

"Yes, well, moving on, Ami's a rather special case," Hiruzen said with seriousness in his tone, "She's the only one of the Uchiha's fangirl who has actually trained."

"Really?" Kurenai asked, clearly surprised at this.

"Yes, though I believe she has an ulterior motive," Hiruzen replied with a stern look on his face.

"What could that be?" Kurenai wondered curiously.

"I believe she's trying to use Sasuke as a means of getting her reputation back," Kakashi answered as he looked to see Ino and Sakura beat Ami up, "I've been keeping an eye on her and from what I've seen, she really has it in for Naruto and is looking to Sasuke since he also hates Naruto. Like Hokage-sama said, unlike all the other fangirls, she's the only one who's actually bothered to train. I believe she's preparing herself for a confrontation."

"Yes, I also believe that that is possible," Hiruzen said in agreement with a nod, "Anyway, two years ago, Ami unfortunately lost her parents when the boiler in their house exploded."

"What, you mean, she's an orphan?" Kurenai said as her eyes widened in shock.

"Uh huh, unfortunately the answer is yes," Hiruzen said with a sigh, "Though she miraculously escaped unscathed."

Kakashi nodded as he gave Ami a suspicious glance through the crystal ball and Ino and Sakura continued their assault on her. What the Sandaime said was true. Ami had lost both her parents to an explosion in their house two years ago and Ami was recovered from the wreckage unscathed, but Kakashi just could not help but be suspicious of the circumstances surrounding that incident. He had done a background check on Ami and as it turned out, she never got on well with her parents at all. Looking into the situation, Kakashi had discovered that Ami's parents constantly argued with one another and constantly fought with one another and whenever one of them was angry and the other wasn't around for them to take their anger out on, Ami had become the target of their abuse. Kakashi remembered reading into the reports of ninja being called to the Kuroishi residence to deal with disturbances, but Ami obviously have been too afraid to rant her parents out. It had gone on for years and Kakashi had to wonder if Ami's love of bullying had stemmed from the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her parents. It would indeed make sense. Her parents made her feel like dirt and she had decided to make others feel like dirt as a coping mechanism. From what he discovered, the Kuroishis did indeed treat their daughter as if her birth had been a mistake and he found it convenient that their relationship had started to deteriorate when Mrs Kuroishi had become pregnant, though they didn't start harming Ami right away since he knew that the likelihood of Ami being alive if they harmed her as a baby was relatively small.

Anyway, with this information and looking into the circumstances of their deaths and Ami's so-called miraculous escape, he found that she was totally unhurt and did not look in the least bit shocked. She did try to make everyone believe that she was, but she was a rather poor actress. When in the hospital, it was discovered that not only was she unscathed, she had not suffered from smoke inhalation. Her lungs were completely smoke-free and Kakashi knew that even if she was unhurt physically, she was bound to have suffered from smoke inhalation as the fire burned, which led him to the conclusion that Ami had not been in the house when the explosion occurred. He figured that once the fire had been put out, she must have such into the wreckage and placed herself there. He also recalled that not once did she shed a tear for the deaths of her parents. At their funeral, Ami had looked more bored than anything else and only seemed to be agitated at the fact that the funeral would not end. Several people reported that when the funeral finally did end that Ami had walked away with a smile on her face as if glad that it was over and she did not look in the least bit grief-stricken at the loss of her parents.

"It may just be me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that she may have killed her parents," he thought to himself.

Of course, that was just him. It could be that perhaps the explosion was an accident and Ami had nothing to do with it and that she was just glad that they were dead and that they would not abuse her anymore. Perhaps she had not been present and had played the part of a victim to gain some sympathy, but the explosion had occurred in the dead of night; at a time when it would be unlikely that Ami would be away from the house given her age. Yes, Kakashi was sure that he knew the truth. However, he just didn't have the proof to move against Ami, but that did not bother him in the slightest as he would be able to keep a close eye on Ami from now on.

The image on the crystal ball then moved and focussed on Naruto just as Iruka entered the classroom and everyone got into their seats. One of the jonin present, a woman looked at the image of Naruto in wonder and curiosity.

"So that's Naruto-san, huh?" she mused to herself, "That's Kushina-sama's son?"

A wave of regret suddenly washed over her and she couldn't help but wince.

"I'm so sorry Kushina-sama," she went on as she looked up, "I'm sorry that I was unable to protect him until now."

* * *

Back in the classroom, Iruka had come in and almost immediately, Sakura and Ino stopped beating on Ami and took two empty seats next to one another and Ami, who was now covered in bruises with a swollen left eye, had taken the seat next to Sasuke that the fangirls had all been fighting over. Once everyone had quietened down and took their seats, Iruka started talking.

"First off, let me just say to you all; congratulations, as of today, you are all ninja," he explained with his hands behind his back and his right hand holding onto a sheet of paper listing all the three-man squads on it, "To get here, you have faced great trails and hardships, but that's nothing. Compared to what lies ahead, everything you've experienced so far will seem like a walk in the park that experienced ninja can perform in their sleep. Now, you are all genin, low level-level ninja. All the genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a jonin, an elite ninja."

"A three-man squad," many of Sasuke's delusional fangirls thought to themselves, hoping that they would get onto the same squad as their crush.

"Terrific," Sasuke thought with a dissatisfied groan, "The last thing I need is two losers slowing me down."

He remembered his vow that once he'd gained enough power, he'd destroy the village due to having to go through therapy with the Yamanaka Clan before going off to hunt down his brother and kill him and then hunt for strong kunoichi to force them into helping rebuild his clan into an army that he'd use to conquer the world and plunge it into eternal chaos. The last thing he wanted was to be lumbered with people he saw as pathetic and weak and even if there was someone stronger than him in the class, the last thing he wanted was for them to get in his way. He thought about Naruto in particular. The last thing he wanted was to be on the same squad as the blonde-haired bane of his existence. He knew that he just would not be able to tolerate being in Naruto's presence for very long without trying to attack him.

"Well, at least one of us will have to be on Sasuke-kun's squad, I wonder who," one fangirl commented to another in a rather smug tone.

"I dunno," the girl she had spoken to replied while flashing her rival a side-glare as if warning her not to push it.

"A three-man squad," Sakura thought with a mixture of excitement and worry; excitement that she may end up on the same squad as Naruto and worry over the possibility of getting onto the same squad as Sasuke, "Please don't make me be on Sasuke-teme's squad; not Sasuke's squad, not Sasuke's squad."

She continued repeating three words over and over in her head as if it was a mantra.

"**Shannaro! If I end up on the same squad as that arrogant prick, I'm gonna set you on fire in your sleep Iruka-sensei, Shannaro!**" Inner Sakura shouted out at Iruka despite the fact that he could not hear her.

Apparently Ino and Hinata were having similar thoughts since from the looks on their faces, it was clear that they both were repeating similar mantra over and over again and for Sakura and Ino, it only served as a reminder of how they had once been loyal devoted Sasuke-fangirls before they had met Naruto and how through Naruto they had both came to see the real Uchiha Sasuke and not the "Prince Charming Heartthrob" that they had pictured him as.

"Idiotic fangirls," Ino mused to herself as she looked around the classroom and saw many of the girls with looks of anticipation on their faces as they were clearly hoping to get paired on the same team as their "Prince Charming", "If they had even half a brain, they'd realise that they're not in love with him; but rather, they're in love with an image of him that they themselves have created. Handsomeness doesn't necessarily mean kindness."

She let out a snort of disgust as she remembered that she could very well have become one of those annoying girls had it not been for Naruto.

"I just hope I'm on the same squad as Naruto-kun," Hinata thought to herself as she gave Sasuke a stare and then trembled, "I just hope I'm not on his team. I really can't stand him and I'm sure that he hasn't forgotten that humiliating defeat I gave him four years ago."

That much was true, Hinata knew. She knew Sasuke still held a grudge against her for that defeat. She remembered that Sasuke had been trying to pick a fight with Naruto, looking for payback for a beaten that she, Ino and Sakura had dealt him a few days earlier. Sasuke clearly blamed Naruto for it despite the fact that Naruto had not been involved, but that had not mattered to Sasuke. He was obsessed with Naruto due to the fact that Naruto had started to improve in his performance at the Academy and the Uchiha heir felt threatened. Anyway, when Naruto refused to humour him, Sasuke had resorted to taking her hostage in an attempt to goad him into fighting him and needless to say, it had backfired drastically and Hinata had managed to free herself and then retaliate, which ultimately led to Sasuke's defeat. Hinata didn't want to be on the same team as Sasuke because she knew that Sasuke never let go of his grudges and instead hung onto them and used them as fuel for his insane quest for vengeance against his brother and anyone else he believed had wronged him and Hinata knew that she, Naruto and the rest of their friends were on his hit-list.

"Not Sasuke, anyone but Sasuke," Naruto thought to himself, having similar thoughts as Hinata, "We wouldn't last five seconds in each other's presence before we started trying to kill each other."

Looking around, he searched for the classroom for potential teammates. In truth he really didn't care who was on his team; just so long as Sasuke was not one of them. He'd even take those he couldn't stand to be around; just so long as Sasuke was not in his team because the difference between the others and Sasuke was at least Naruto could tolerate them despite the fact he didn't really like them. However, he knew that he would not be able to tolerate Sasuke and he knew that the feeling was mutual. Like he had said, he and Sasuke would undoubtedly be at each other's throats, trying to kill each other in under a minute. However, as he looked around the classroom, he noticed a boy (the same one in the Sandaime's crystal ball) leaning against the wall and realised that he did not recognise him.

"Just who is that?" he thought curiously, "I never saw him at the Graduation Exam."

The boy had a stone-cold stoic and emotionless look on his face and if Naruto didn't know any better, he would have probably mistaken him for a statue. However, something about the boy seemed off to Naruto. He didn't know what it was, though he put it down to the fact that he had a pale skin tone and could easily outdo Shino in terms of stoicism, but there was something about him that just didn't sit well with Naruto. It was like he felt that they boy should not be here and was more skilled that he looked. Anyway, the boy paid him no attention and continued to stare ahead, not once blinking.

"We want each squad to have a balanced set of strength and abilities, so that's how we set them up," Iruka went on with his speech, bringing everyone out of their thoughts and back to reality as he brought his hands to the front and held the sheet in front of him as he started to read, "I will now announce the squads."

And so Iruka started announcing the squads and many of Sasuke's fangirls found themselves disappointed that they were not on the same squad as their crush and let out dissatisfied groans. Many boys also let out similar groans at not being on the same squads as their friends and those who managed to get on the same squad as their friends all cheered.

"Squad Seven," Iruka said, having reached the seventh team, "Santen Sai."

The boy at the back of the class, who had remained motionless all this time finally moved as he raised his hand, indicating that he was the person that Iruka had mentioned.

"Kuroishi Ami," Iruka went on, mentioning Ami's name as the purple haired girl closed her eyes and crossed her index fingers over her middle fingers, clearly hoping that Sasuke would be the last one mentioned.

"And Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka finished.

"YES!" Ami shouted as she jumped out of her seat and thrust her fist into the air, "In your face bitches! I win, Sasuke-kun's all mine!"

Many of Sasuke's other fangirls all turned and glared at Ami as she shot them all a boastful smug look as if she were rubbing the fact that she was on Sasuke's squad in their faces. Some were upset at not being on the same team as their crush and all of them were jealous of Ami since she was on Sasuke's team. However, the fangirls may have issues with one another over their desire to be with Sasuke, but all of them were united in the fact that they all did not like Ami very much. Some of them had been Ami's targets when she was still a bully before Naruto had caused all her so-called friends to deserve her, which in turn gave them the courage and confidence to stand up to her and they still remembered what the cruel purple-haired girl had done to them. Of all the Sasuke-fangirls, Ami had been the most violent on them, willing to assault the others to get what she wanted whereas the rest of them were content just verbally bashing one another. Ami was the only one who was willing to go further and actually attack her rivals. The seat that the fangirls had been fighting over, when Ami had arrived after recovering from the beating that Ino and Sakura had given her, she had just barged her way through the horde vying for the seat, shoving them out of her way and had claimed it for herself and had shot the others a look that dared them to challenge her and needless to say, it was enough to get them to back off. Ami was definitely not like the others. They all feared and resented her something awful for her willingness to use her fists in order to get her way. It was an unspoken rule among the fangirls that they would not use physical violence to try and win Sasuke's affections as they were all too afraid that getting into a fight would spoil their "good" looks. However, Ami had gone and violated that rule and even though, the others were willing to put their differences with Ami aside when it came to cheering Sasuke on to the point where it looked as if Ami was leading them; none of the other girls could really stand her.

"Team Eight," Iruka went on, after recovering from Ami's cheer, "Hyuga Hinata."

"Hai," Hinata said with a nod.

"Inuzuka Kiba," Iruka went on as Kiba let out a laugh with a grin on his first; his way of indicating that Iruka was talking to him, "And Aburame Shino."

Shino just brought his hand up in front of his face and adjusted his glasses slightly in response.

"Oh, so I guess I won't be with Naruto-kun then," Hinata thought as she gave a sigh of disappointment.

She had really hoped that she would be on a team with Naruto and even though she was half-expecting not to be on the same team as Naruto, it still felt rather depressing that she and Naruto were not teammates. She was really hoping against all hope that Naruto would be on her team, but unfortunately, fate had deemed that it was not meant to be.

"Oh well, guess I'll just have to make the most of it," she thought, not all that happy.

"Hey, don't worry Hinata-chan," Naruto said as he noticed her deflated expression, "We're still friends and even though we're not on the same squad, I'll make it up to you somehow."

Hinata could not help but blush at this as Naruto flashed a her a nice, warm smile and she then knew that Naruto would indeed make up for the fact that they were not teammates.

"Arigato Naruto-kun," she whispered to Naruto and Naruto nodded.

"Team Nine," Iruka continued as he read from the list, "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura,"

"Huh?" Sakura said as her eyes widened in surprise that she was on the same team as Naruto, though she did not rise and let out a loud cheer.

In truth, part of her was glad that she was on the same team as Naruto as he was the boy she was closest to. After all, it had been because of Naruto that she had seen Sasuke for what he really was and he had saved her from Ami when they first met and had been instrumental in helping her build up the courage to stand up to her purple-haired nemesis on her own. She felt that she owed Naruto a lot and could not help but remember how he had been willing to sever his friendship with her just so she could preserve her friendship with Ino back before he had met Ino and he had been terrified that she would reject him, which gave the pinkette insight into how considerate Naruto really was. However, remembering that and seeing Hinata's disappointed expression led to part of her being sad that Naruto was on her team. After all, Hinata and Ino liked him as well and she knew that both had also been hoping that he'd be on their team. Despite what Ino told her earlier about the sacred pact that the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clans had with one another, she knew that Ino had been hoping that just once, they'd break from the usual tradition and group her with Naruto and she knew that Hinata had admired Naruto for the longest time since he was looked down on with hatred and scorn and yet he refused to give up and strived to prove everyone wrong in their assumptions of him and it reminded the Hyuga Heiress of how her clan had once looked down on her due to her poor performance and compassion and she found herself wishing that she could be like Naruto. In all, Sakura had mixed feelings. Part of her was happy that she was on Naruto's team and part of her was sad that neither Hinata nor Ino were on his team, though she knew that if Hinata or Ino had been on Naruto's team, she would probably feel jealous. After all, she had befriended Naruto first and in her jealousy, she believed that she'd use that fact to justify her dissatisfaction.

"And Kumashiro Satoshi," Iruka finished as a boy with short brown hair and dark brown eyes made a quick wave gesture with his hand to indicate that Iruka was referring to him.

He wore blue sandals, a pair of green trousers with brown stripes looped round the leggings and bandages tied round his upper right leg. He also wore a dark brown t-shirt with a dark green waistcoat over it and had dark grey fingerless gloves with four grey ovular metal plates; one situated over each of his knuckles and coming to coned points in the centre of each plate on his hands. He wore his hitai-ate in the same manner as mostly everyone else, but unlike the others, who had the metal plate over their foreheads, this boy had his hitai-ate's metal plate off to his right side.

"And finally, Team Ten," Iruka said as he continued down the list, "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Choji Akimichi."

"Wow, I can't believe that Ino called it right," Sakura thought to herself as she remembered Ino telling her that she expected to be paired with Shikamaru and Choji, "And I'll bet that a member of the Sarutobi Clan will be their sensei."

"Those are all the squads," Iruka said with a sigh, glad that he was through with the list as he expected to hear complaints from those who were not happy with their team's setup.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, just who's that guy in the back," Naruto spoke up as pointed his thumb behind him at the boy at the back, who was still leaning against the wall, "I never saw him at the Graduation Exam, so what's he doing here and just what happened to Keiichi-san? Did this guy bump him off in order to take his place?"

"Well Naruto, to answer your question, no, Keiichi's not dead and Sai did not kill him in order to replace him," Iruka replied, though the boy, Sai remained still and made no acknowledgement that he had heard Naruto and continued to stare ahead, not really looking all that interested in anything in particular, "Keiichi's parents had a stroke of good fortunate and won the local lottery and Keiichi, it seems had a change of heart about his career and pulled out. Fortunately, Sai here, who had been trained privately and had taken the Graduation Exam later than normal happened to be there to replace him , though because of that, he has the lowest scores of all the graduates here and to create a balanced group, we group the student with the best scores with the student with the worst scores."

Sasuke turned to look at Sai and shot him a rather disapproving glare after hearing Iruka's statement about how this stoic boy had the worst scores in the class.

"Hey you, be sure that you stay out of my way!" he called out to Sai and only then his Sai turn his head to face him, though the stare he gave Sasuke was rather blank and lacked any emotion, which only served to anger the Uchiha Heir.

"Hey, hard of hearing or what; in case you didn't hear me, just stay out of my way," he repeated before turning to glare down at Ami, who was sitting off to his right, "And that goes for you as well. I don't need any weaklings slowing me down."

Ami winced at this, looking visibly hurt at Sasuke's comment, but that didn't matter to her. She knew that… or at least in her mind, she believed that Sasuke was only saying that to her because of the fact that he had witnessed Ino and Sakura beating her up after she shoved Ino into Sakura, which caused them to accidentally kiss and she cursed herself for allowing herself to be overpowered by her fear as she knew that it made her look bad in front of Sasuke and she vowed that she would make both Ino and Sakura pay for that. She would have her revenge and she would prove to Sasuke that she was worthy of his affections. Sasuke may view her as weak right now, but she vowed that she would train for the day in which she could prove to Sasuke that she had become strong enough to earn his affections and then together, they would deal with Naruto and his band of freaks and then Ami would regain everything she had lost and then all would be okay.

"After lunch, you'll all meet your new jonin-senseis," Iruka informed the class, "So you're free until then and all I have to say is good luck and class dismissed."

* * *

A while later after the newly qualified ninja left the Academy to have their lunch, Naruto and his band of friends all met up outside the Academy Entrance.

"So I guess our teams have all been decided, eh," Kiba said with a smirk, "Well I really can't wait till we get started."

"I hate to burst your bubble Kiba, but we're not officially ninja yet," Naruto pointed out, "Once we meet our senseis, they'll administer the real test to see if we're ready to become ninja. The last exam was to determine which of us could potentially become ninja. Those who fail go back to the Academy."

"Yeah, well there is that," Kiba said with a sigh as his mood deflated, realising that Naruto had a point.

"Well I can honestly say that I already feel sorry for the team who's got Kakashi-niisan as a sensei because not only will they be waiting for hours till he arrives, they also don't have a chance at passing," Naruto stated as he remembered seeing Kakashi fail his many genin teams, "His standards are unfortunately a lot higher than most of the others and of all the teams he's failed, not one of them came close to realising the true nature of his test and a few of them even started fighting amongst themselves and not only does Kakashi-niisan fail them, if their performance is really pathetic in his eyes, he recommends that they be forcibly pulled out of the Academy altogether."

"Man, that's harsh," Kiba said as he flinched at the thought of Kakashi ending the hopes of many of his genin teams of ever becoming ninja and at the same time, hoped that he, Hinata and Shino were not assigned Kakashi.

"Any pointers Naruto-san?" Shino asked in his usual stoic tone, though he genuinely was curious about Kakashi and his test.

Years of people being too freaked out to be near him due to having insects living in his body had caused him to become withdrawn and though making friends had changed him somewhat, he still spoke in the same stoic tone no matter what his mood was. He was very adept at concealing his emotions, though his friends could normally tell his mood due to hanging around with him the past four years.

"Sorry, but I can't say," Naruto said as he shook his head, "The whole purpose of the test is going into it and not knowing what it is. If you knew what you were getting into and what the test was really about, it could lead to an inaccurate assessment that would result in a team passing when they're not ready to become ninja since their knowledge of the test before hand and what was expected could affect their performance."

"Very logical of you Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smirk, "I definitely wouldn't want to know what my sensei had in store for us beforehand. It would spoil it for not only the sensei, but us as well."

"So then, Kiba, Shino and Hinata's in one team, Ino, Shikamaru and Choji in one team and Sakura and I are in a team with a Kumashiro Satoshi," Naruto said as he looked around.

"And Ami gets her wish of being on Sasuke-teme's team along with that Sai character," Sakura added with a sneer as she thought of her old nemesis and former crush, "I can honestly say that they belong together. They're opposite gender version of one another; I can't believe that Ino-chan and I once liked him."

"Yeah, but just what's the deal with that Sai guy anyway?" Ino asked, curious about the stoic black-haired boy that had been in the classroom with them despite not being seen at the Graduation Exam or in any of their classes beforehand for that matter, "Do you honestly think that Iruka was being truthful with what he said about Keiichi having a change of heart after his parents winning the lottery?"

"Who knows, but the thing about Keiichi-san is that he'd do anything for money," Hinata answered with a shrug, "He'd probably even humiliate himself if someone paid him to do so."

Naruto had an unsure look on his face. There was definitely something out of place with Sai and he didn't know why it bothered him. After all, he was not on the same squad as him, so why was he letting it get to him? At first glance, Sai didn't look anything special. However, he just leaned against the wall totally motionless with a blank, stoic look on his face and only made two movements; one to confirm his name when Iruka had mentioned his team placement and the other was when he turned to stare at Sasuke. He had to admit that it was creepy. Sai had not spoken a word in all the time they had been in the classroom; hadn't even uttered a single syllable. Maybe that's what was bothering him, he decided. Maybe it was just Sai's cold, withdrawn and stoic nature. He'd definitely outdo Shino in a contest to see who the most stoic person in the village was and since meeting Shino, Naruto didn't think it was possible to get any more stoic than that, but Sai had come along and proven him wrong. He did wonder about Keiichi and whether or not there was some meaning behind his supposed withdrawal from the ninja program. Even if what Iruka had said about his parents winning the lottery and him withdrawing was true, Naruto found that it was too much of a coincidence that Sai just so happened to be around to replace him. He hadn't heard of anyone getting private training… well he did train with Kakashi for six years ever since he had lashed out and killed in self-defence, but he still had to go through the Academy curriculum just like everyone else. Apparently Sai didn't and had taken the Graduation Exam separately. What was it about Sai that was so special that he managed to get special treatment? Why was he allowed to just turn up after the Graduation Exam and take it?

"Something about him stinks," the blonde-haired Jinchuriki thought, feeling rather troubled, "Though I don't know why I'm letting it get to me. It's not like he's my teammate or anything."

"Anyway, what's the deal with the team setups?" Choji asked curiously.

"Well, Iruka-sensei did say that the teams were set up with striking a balance in mind," Naruto said with a sigh, "I think each team has its own specialty."

"Like what?" Kiba asked curiously.

"Well, you, Hinata and Shino for example," Naruto went on, "With Hinata's Byakugan, Shino's insects and your own dog-like abilities, you'd make a great tracking team and Ino, Shikamaru and Choji's team with Ino's mind jutsu, Shikamaru's shadow jutsu and Choji's body-expansion jutsu would make a great capture and interrogation squad."

"Plus, the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi Clans have always been grouped together for generations," Ino added to which Shikamaru and Choji both nodded.

"Though I was hoping to get on a team with Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled to herself feeling a wave of depression wash over her and only Sakura managed to hear her.

This caused the pinkette to flinch as she remembered that despite being happy that she was on the same squad as Naruto, she was also sad for Hinata and Ino, but the main rule of assigning teams was that they were only allowed to assign one kunoichi per team, though Sakura remembered hearing how one year two kunoichi had been assigned to the same team by mistake because one of them looked so much like a boy that the person assigning the teams assumed that she was a boy and teamed her with a boy and another girl and when this mistake was discovered, it had been decided that it would be overlooked because they believed that rearranging the team assignments would be too much hassle, though Sakura guessed that it was probably because they were just lazy and couldn't be bothered. Anyway, Sakura knew that the fact that she was on Naruto's team could potentially become a flashpoint between her, Ino and Hinata as she would be spending the most time with Naruto while out on missions and she feared that she may lose Ino and Hinata as friends and had visions of them both letting their jealousy get the best of them. With that in mind, Sakura considered that perhaps it would have been better if none of them had been assigned to Naruto's team, but then again, if that had happened, they'd all probably complain, wishing they were on his team and if he had been assigned with another girl, then they would all wonder and worry over the possibility of her stealing him away from them.. Even though it was highly unlikely due to the fact that most of the other girls were diehard Sasuke fangirls and hated him because Sasuke hated him, there was always the possibility that being with Naruto may his female teammate to open her eyes to reality and though such a thing would be welcome, the fear of Naruto being taken from them remained with the pinkette and looking at Ino and Hinata, she knew that they were both having similar thoughts.

"Um… excuse m-me," a new voice came, sounding nervous and a bit fearful, causing everyone to turn their heads round to see the boy that was Naruto and Sakura's teammate, Kumashiro Satoshi, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but since two of you are my teammates, I was hoping that we could use this time to get to know one another."

The group all looked apprehensive about Satoshi as they did not know him all that well and didn't know how he felt about Naruto since most of the other children had followed their parents' example when they told them to stay away from him. Satoshi may very well be one of them and it was clear to Satoshi just by looking at the faces of the group that they did not trust him one bit. Who knows, as soon as his parents found out just who was on his team, they may get him to try and kill Naruto at the first opportunity. After all, the Kumashiro Family did have a seat on the Civilian Council and the group all knew of the Civilian Council's fierce animosity towards Naruto, so having one of their children on the same team as Naruto did not sit too well with them.

"Um, of c-c-course, if you'd rather I'd just get lost, I u-understand," Satoshi stuttered as he turned to leave.

"Hold it," Naruto said, causing the short-haired boy to stop.

"Y-yes, what is it Naruto-san?" he asked curiously.

"Let's get one thing straight right here and now," Sakura said as she shot her teammate a rather stern warning glare, "We don't trust you and we don't like you. However, like you said, we're teammates, so we can't help but be together, so it's unavoidable that we'll get to know you. However, I will say this. If you do anything to Naruto-kun; if you so much as look at him in a way I don't like, I'll make you regret it."

As if to emphasise her point, she started to crack her knuckles

"Yeah and then you'll have to deal with the rest of us as well," Kiba put in as the rest of the group all joined Sakura in giving Satoshi the same glare she was giving him and followed her example in cracking their knuckles, making it clear exactly what await the short-haired boy if he tried anything.

"Are we clear on that?" Sakura said in a tone that suggested that she only expected one answer and Satoshi gulped as he gave the group a clear nod to indicate that he understood.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sai was walking back to his apartment while holding a green book with two drawings; one on each side of it. One of the drawings was child's draw of Sai himself and the other was of someone else that he could just vaguely remember; a boy called Shin. He looked down at the book and stared at it for a few moments as a flicker of sadness found its way into his stone cold eyes, but he almost immediately suppressed it as he heard someone rushed up behind him. He immediately dropped the book to the ground and reached for his tanto and spun round as he unsheathed it and brought it up to block a slash from his would-be attacker, who had attacked with an identical tanto.

His attacker had gloves identical to his own, only with all five finger holes and was covered by a green cloak that covered his body from the shoulders downwards. His face was covered by a grey cat like ANBU mask with a frowned expression and two red lines; one at either side running up the mask with three curves above the eyes. He also had spiky dark brown hair that was so dark that it could easily have been mistaken for black.

"Very good, as sharp as ever I see," the man said as he relaxed and withdrew his tanto and Sai did the same, "Remember to never let your guard down."

"Hai, I understand," Sai said, speaking for the first time that day as he sheathed his tanto and his "attacker" did the same, "What is it that you want Hyo-senpai?"

* * *

Not far away, Ami was looking for Sasuke, hoping to convince him to allow her to eat with him. After the class was dismissed, Sasuke had stormed out of the classroom and disappeared.

"Sasuke-kun, hew Sasuke-kun, where are you?" she shouted, hoping to get a reply, "Look, I'm sorry about letting those two freaks beat me up earlier, but if you'll just give me a chance, I can prove myself to you! I can become strong! I'm sure that I can be of use to you!"

However she got no reply and as she continued to look for Sasuke, she noticed her other teammate, Sai standing in the shadows just outside an alleyway between two buildings. Normally, she would have just ignored him since she really didn't care about her third teammate; all she was interested in was Sasuke and proving herself worthy of his affections so she could get back everything she believed that Naruto had taken from her. What her third teammate did with his free time was not her concern and she was about to walk away, but she suddenly noticed that Sai was not alone and that the person he seemed to be talking to was an ANBU, who handed him a light yellowish brown envelope and that did pique her curiosity as she wondered just why a genin would be hanging around the ANBU.

* * *

"This envelope contains the details of your mission," Sai's "attacker", Hyo said as Sai untied the seal and took the sheet out to read, "These are orders direct from Danzo-sama himself."

After a few seconds, Sai's eyes widened slightly, though it was not in surprise, but rather an acknowledgement that he had read the sheet.

"The future vision that Danzo-sama has for this village all depends on the success of your mission," Hyo went on and then gave Sai a stern stare as he spoke, giving Sai a warning, "Failure will not be tolerated."

"I understand," Sai said with a professional nod.

"Very well then," Hyo said had he brought his hand up in front of him and prepared to perform a hand seal with just one hand, but then noticed the book that Sai had dropped when he "attacked" him.

"You're still hanging onto that?" he asked curiously.

Sai flinched and looked down at the ground as uncertainty and sadness made their way onto his face.

"This is…" Sai started to say.

"In ROOT, you have no name, no emotions," Hyo interrupted as he observed Sai sternly, clearly not happy with his display of emotion.

"No past, no future," Sai went on in a cold stoic tone once he regained his composure, "There is only the mission."

"We are ROOT, we operate underground and in the shadows; invisible to everyone else and we work to protect the tree that is Konoha," Hyo said as he performed a quick gesture with his hand, "Remember that!"

Hyo then disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Sai alone.

"I understand," he said simply, even though his superior had left.

He then took the sheet in his hand and read it over once more to be sure that the details of his mission were accurate. However, as he turned to leave, he noticed his female teammate walking towards him with a not-so-pleased look on her face.

"Hey, pale-boy, just who the hell was that?" she demanded as she glared at him, "What's a genin like you doing hanging around with those masked ANBU freaks?"

"Ami-san, wasn't it?" Sai said simply in a rather stoic tone.

"Yeah, that's my name," Ami said as she stopped and folded her arms, looking at Sai as if she expected him to answer her.

"Just how much did you hear?" the emotionless boy asked with a hint of seriousness in his tone.

"I couldn't hear what you were saying, but I saw you being handed that envelope," Ami admitted as she eyed the envelope and sheet of paper in Sai's hands, "Just what's on that sheet anyway?"

"That does not concern you, now I suggest that you leave," Sai warned as he gave the purple-haired girl a blank look that held a hint of warning.

"Doesn't concern… just who the hell do you think you are?" Ami said in pure outrage as it was clear that she was not happy at his response, "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Should I?" Sai asked in genuine curiosity as he raised an eyebrow as he reached behind his back for the hilt of his tanto.

Ami looked ready to blow up right then and there, but in truth, though she wouldn't admit it, the look Sai was giving her was scaring her and alarms bells rang out in her head, telling her that to persist in tormenting Sai would be a bad idea and so, she just let out a rather infuriated sigh as she forced herself to calm down.

"Whatever, fine, keep your crumby secrets for all I care," she said at length, crisscrossing her arms and then throwing them to her sides as if to say "I wash my hands of the whole thing", "You're a freak just like Naruto and his merry band of freaks. I have no idea why you don't hang out with them. You'd fit right in with them, but then again, I don't really care. Just don't get in Sasuke-kun's way like he warned you before and stay out of my way as well and if I so much as see you looking at Sasuke-kun in a way that I don't like, I'll personally kill you myself. Sasuke-kun's mine and I won't allow anyone, not even another boy come between me and him."

She then turned and stormed off as Sai withdrew his hand from his tanto.

"You'll kill me if I make a move or look at Sasuke-san in a way you don't like, huh?" he said once he was sure that the purple-haired girl was out of earshot, "Not if I kill you first. Danzo-sama will have to be informed of this complication."

It was true; Sai was not really a genin. He was really a spy from Danzo's ROOT Division sent to keep an eye on Sasuke. The truth behind Keiichi's withdrawal was that it was all ROOT's doing. Sure, Keiichi and his family were okay and what Iruka had told the others was genuine, but what even he didn't know what that that lottery that Keiichi's parents had won had been rigged by ROOT to ensure that his parents' numbers would be the winning numbers. Keiichi's family was a relatively poor family and his parents could only just barely earn enough to make end's meat and no more. The whole reason Keiichi applied to become a ninja in the first place was so he could help work his family out of poverty, which was why he had been willing to do things for money. However, after his parents won the lottery and became a whole lot richer, Keiichi no longer needed to become a ninja and so dropped out. The story of how Sai had been tutored privately and had taken the Graduation Exam afterwards had been a cover story. Santen Sai wasn't even his real name. The name he had been given was just a codename he'd been assigned to help identify him.

Thinking back, Sai could not remember what his real name was. He had been orphaned at a relatively young age… he could not even remember how or when he'd been orphaned or even how he'd come to be recruited by ROOT. All he remembered was his time in ROOT and like all members of ROOT, he had been trained to kill his emotions due to the fact that many of the things ROOT were involved in was considered unethical and immoral by many, but deemed necessary by Danzo. Sai could vaguely remember a boy he knew called Shin, but the details of their relationship and what they did together were hazy and he couldn't remember them. However, he did know that Shin was dead, though he couldn't remember how he had died, but whenever he thought of Shin, he could not help but feel sad and believed that the book he had been carrying was something of a memento of him. Even though he couldn't remember if it was a memento or not, he still treated it as if it was a memento regardless. In ROOT the recruitment process involved tough training in order to force the trainees to kill their emotions to prevent their consciences from getting in the way of their missions. New recruits were normally grouped together in pairs and made to bond with one another and then then after a while, they would take one final test to see whether or not they were cut out to be in ROOT and this test involved the recruits that had been paired together to be pitted against one another in a fight to the death in order to get them to suppress all their emotions; including their sense of personal attachment to others since they may be required to kill potential loved ones to fulfil their mission or if their loved ones found out what they were doing, they would undoubtedly be appalled and probably abandon them. This test was to ensure that ROOT members were not swayed by their loved ones, but then again, Danzo normally went after orphans who had no one left who cared for them to minimise the possibility of this happening and the test was also to ensure that they didn't develop personal attachments to anyone while working undercover. Sai honestly did not remember when he had taken the ROOT Graduation Exam, but he had to wonder if he had been paired with Shin and if so, it would mean that he had probably killed Shin to get into ROOT and if that was true, Sai could not help but shudder at that despite the fact that he was unsure if he did kill Shin or not and hoped that he didn't kill him.

"On with the mission," he said as he shook his head and placed those thoughts to the back of his mind, "My mission is to keep an eye on Uchiha Sasuke and eliminate him at the first opportunity if he shows signs of betraying Konoha, though Hyo-senpai and I were careless and were seen by my other teammate. Oh well, I'll report this to Danzo-sama before taking any action concerning Ami-san."

He would report this to Danzo before dealing with Ami. As a member of ROOT, he was not to do anything that involved anything outside his mission unless ordered to. Members of ROOT only did what they were ordered to do and if they wanted to do something on their own, they had to have permission from Danzo himself to do so. Ami could be a potential factor in his mission, but he nonetheless decided to await orders from Danzo on what to do about her should she prove to be a hindrance to his mission after he reported this incident The reason why ROOT never did anything outside their orders was to reduce the chances of drawing unwanted attention upon themselves and their organisation. Officially ROOT was disbanded and no longer existed, but due to the majority of their members remaining loyal to Danzo after the Sandaime had disbanded it, ROOT continued to operate in secrecy and the last thing Danzo needed was for the public to become aware of his organisation's continued existence. Danzo was no fool. He knew that if ROOT's continued existence were to be made public, it would undoubtedly cause outrage and panic as he believed that many of Konoha's citizens would not understand his motives.

* * *

**Glossary**

Suchiruhanga – The Steel Clothes

Hana no Mise – Flower Store

Meisai-fuku – Camouflage Clothes

Tanto – Short Sword (issued to ANBU ROOT members to distinguish them from regular ANBU members)

Meisai no Jutsu – Camouflage Technique

Meisai no Jutsu – Kasshoku – Camouflage Technique – Brown

Tori – Bird (hand seal)

Tora – Tiger (hand seal)

Mi – Snake/Serpent (hand seal)

Hitsuji – Ram (hand seal)

Ohayo – Good Morning

Arigato – Thank You

Minna – Everyone

Santen – Three Points (Sai's fake family name)

Senpai – Senior

* * *

**Author's notes** – After two years and two months, I'm back with this fic once again. Sorry for the really, really, really long delay, but a combination or writer's block, computer problems from the end of April 2010 to September of the same year, my mind wondering to other things and a lack of motivation were all to blame. My old computer finally packed in in September 2010 and I had to get a new one, but even then I still had my mind wondering and a lack of motivation. The good thing about this hiatus though is that the manga's progressed so far and we've learned an awful lot since then, like Kushina being the previous Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and that "Madara" wasn't the real Madara, but someone else entirely and more recently that the Kyuubi's real name in Kurama as well as Kabuto's backstory. I will try to fit all this into the fic and work round what contradicts the manga without retconning it. After all this is an AU fic. Anyway I hope you've all enjoyed the chapter and to give you all a taster; Orimono in Japanese means Fabric and Hagane in Japanese means Steel and the name Orimono Hagane (remember in Japanese the family name comes first) means Fabric of Steel (which I believe goes hand in hand with the name of her store, which is Japanese for The Steel Clothes) and as Sai's fake surname, Santen suggests, it means three points and a Sai is a fork like weapon with three points (Rafael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wields them as weapons). Anyway, team selections was hard for me. I always intended for Kiba, Shino and Hinata and Ino, Shikamaru and Choji to be in their cannon teams, but I was unsure how I wanted Naruto and Sakura to go. I considered having Sakura put on a team with two OCs with an OC sensei and have Naruto as a one-man team with a sensei of his own, I decided that it was too much like the fic, Neo Yondaime Hokage and I'd have three OCs to deal with (Sakura's two teammates and their sensei), but I finally decided on this arrangement on having Naruto and Sakura together (don't think for one minute that this means that this is a Naruto/Sakura fic. As the summery says, this is a Naruto/Sakura/Ino/Hinata fic, which means that once Naruto is done with his missions, he'll spend his time afterwards with Hinata or Ino and Sakura spending time with the girl who's not with Naruto). Naruto, Sakura and Satoshi's sensei will be an OC (I know you probably won't like this setup, but please bear with me). Satoshi and the OC sensei (whom I will introduce next chapter) will have somewhat important roles to play, but I will try to keep them out of Mary Sue territory. Anyway, as for the arrangement of Sasuke's team and the bit where Ami caused Sakura and Ino to kiss… those were always planned and I tweaked Sai's backstory a bit with his past concerning Shin. In cannon, he suppressed his memories of Shin, but in episode 35 of Shippuden when he stared at the sketchbook, I'm convinced he remembered at least something, so here; he was only partially successful in suppressing his memories of Shin.


End file.
